March on D.C. for Gay and Lesbian rights

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16 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1987

Drug companies profit

The testing of new drugs for AIDS continues at a snail's pace. Teams of scientists and technicians around the world work isolated from one another, carefully guarding what few discoveries they make and, in the process, duplicating many experiments unnecessarily.

Bristol Labs recently announced that it had come upon a possible cure for AIDS but that it would continue development of the drug only if it received an exclusive license to test it.

Of course, the real race among the drug corporations is not to simply find a quick, one-shot cure for AIDS. The drug entrepreneurs would prefer to come up with a medicine or treatment that must be administered continuously throughout the patient's lifetime-keeping the AIDS virus merely in a dormant state.

In effect, the corporations are seeking a life-prolonging therapy rather than a curative therapy. A steady market for such a treatment would be guaranteed. One such drug today, AZT, is expected to cost each patient $10,000 per year-making it the most expensive prescription drug in history.

So we still have no cure for AIDS. What then would be the point in proposals for wholesale AIDS testing?

For one thing, it would be a gold mine for the pharmaceutical companies. "The market for AIDS testing alone is worth $100 million a year," say company executives at Genetic Systems Corporation of Seattle. Wall Street analysts proclaim with joy that the market for AIDS tests On Oct. 11, 1987, people from around the country will mobilize for the second March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The march has taken as its slogan "For love and for life, we're not going back!" March organizers anticipate approximately 250,000 people at the event.

For Saturday, Oct. 10, the Labor Task Force of the March on Washington has organized a Solidarity Reception for leaders and activists in the gay movement and the labor Special guests at this reception will include John Sweeney, president, Service Employees International Union; Bill Olwell, vice president, United Food and Commercial Workers; Anna Padia, national vice president, Coalition of Labor Union Women; Josh Williams, president, Washington Metropolitan Council, AFL-CIO; and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass).

The March on Washington comes at a time when anti-gay sentiments are running high. Much of this comes from AIDS hysteria and the increased discrimination against gay people or those perceived to be gay.

Last month, President Reagan opposed legislation that would have protected people with the AIDS virus from discrimination. At the same time, the administration undermined a $20million program to send educational information on AIDS to every household in the country.

The time is long overdue to end all forms of discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation. Discrimination against all victims of the AIDS virus in the fields of healthcare, insurance, jobs, education, housing, and immigration must also end.

Mass mobilizations organized independently from the Democratic and Republican parties will be key to winning these battles. And the links made at the Oct. 10 Solidarity Reception among gay and labor activists will hopefully serve to build an even broader movement in the struggle to preserve our democratic rights.

The labor reception hosted by the AFL-CIO will be held in the lobby of its national headquarters at 815 16th St., N.W. in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 7 p.m.

For more information on the march and related events call: (202) 783-1828 in Washington, D.C., or (415) 8610318 in San Francisco.-M.M.G.