From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 03:12:34 -0500
Subject: AIDS TV AD IN SOUTH DAKOTA


                        AMERICANS FOR GAY RIGHTS
For Immediate Release                       Contact: Michael Petrelis
February 22, 1996                                      Ph. (415) 621-6267

       AIDS TV SPOT TO AIR IN SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA;
           GAYS CHARGE PREZ CONTENDERS IGNORING AIDS

San Francisco, CA -- A 30-second AIDS-specific television commercial will air
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Monday, February 26, the day before the
state's presidential primary. The spot will be broadcast during the Today
Show and local news on KDLT-TV, an NBC affiliate station.
     The text of the 30-second ad is as follows: "The Republicans have
promised us a contract. The Democrats have proposed a new covenant. But none
of the presidential candidates is offering us an aggressive AIDS strategy.
Yet, AIDS is now the leading cause of death of Americans 25 to 44. The costs
in dollars and lives can no longer be ignored. A candidate who doesn't have a
plan to fight AIDS, doesn't deserve to be president."
     As the narrator reads the text,  an image of a slowly shrinking White
House is shown until it eventually disappears into a black background. The
last visual of the spot is of a white background and the question, "What
about AIDS?" appears in large black letters.
     The non-partisan homosexual advocacy group Americans for Gay Rights is
concerned the AIDS epidemic has not been at the top of the American agenda as
White House hopefuls bash each other instead of debating issues of concern to
voters. A spokesman for the gay organization, Michael Petrelis, demanded the
candidates make AIDS a priority.
     "Democrat or Republican, all  presidential aspirants must present a plan
to battle, and hopefully cure AIDS, in the next four years. We want an AIDS
cure before the next century dawns. AIDS is unequivocally a South Dakota
issue. According a recent two-part series on AIDS that appeared in the Argus
Leader newspaper,  '[t]here were 260 HIV infections reported in South Dakota
through December 31, 1995.' How will the candidates prevent one more South
Dakota resident from contracting AIDS?," Petrelis asked rhetorically. "If
AIDS is a front page story in the South Dakota press, then AIDS ought to be a
primary issue addressed by all presidential candidates."
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