Date:         Tue, 12 Jul 1994 11:33:02 -0400

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 9, 1994

GAY & LESBIAN AMERICANS APPLAUDS AIDS "CZAR" RESIGNATION

GLA Renews Call to Clinton to Fulfill His Pledge On AIDS

New York, NY - Gay & Lesbian Americans (GLA) applauds the announcement of
AIDS "czar" Kristine Gebbie's resignation.  GLA was the first national
organization to join the National Association of People With AIDS in
calling for her resignation and a reformulation of the office.  While Ms.
Gebbie was ostensibly President Clinton's chief AIDS policy officer, in
reality she primarily functioned as the administration's public-relations
point person on AIDS.  Instead of developing policy and coordinating the
federal response to AIDS, Ms. Gebbie spent a considerable amount of her
time traveling around the country giving talks to various groups, such as
Campfire Boys and Girls, and mainstream churches.  Ms. Gebbie's continued
presence allowed Clinton to claim that he had fulfilled his campaign
pledge on AIDS.

 Clinton has failed to provide the leadership necessary to create a
rational and effectively coordinated national AIDS research effort.  As a
candidate, Clinton's pledge on AIDS included two major points: the
mounting of a "Manhattan project" on AIDS research and the establishment
of a cabinet level AIDS "czar" office to coordinate the federal
government's response to the epidemic.  With Ms. Gebbie's resignation GLA
renews its call to President Clinton to reformulate the White House' AIDS
policy office providing it with direct access to him and the authority to
coordinate the work of the various federal agencies involved in the fight
on AIDS.  In addition, the White House must throw its support behind the
AIDS Cure Act which is currently in Congress.  Passage of this bill is a
critical first step in mounting the large scale research effort needed to
find a cure.

 "Another year has passed.  Thousands more have died.  The epidemic rages
on while the administration concerns itself with the appearance of
leadership rather than substance," said Ray Dries, GLA's Communications
Coordinator.  "No one with the necessary qualifications for leadership on
AIDS would take this job the way it's currently defined.  If the White
House is not willing to give it the access and power it needs to really
make a difference then all their talk is just posturing."

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GLA: 2001 O Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, Tel. 1-800-889-5111.

Gay & Lesbian Americans is a diverse, nonpartisan coalition of grassroots
advocates committed to civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgendered people, and to a cure for AIDS.