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N A T I O N A L G A Y & L E S B I A N T A S K F O R C E
1517 U STREET NW WASHINGTON, DC 20009 202/332-6483
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Robert Bray or
Urvashi Vaid, (202)332-6483
NGLTF JOINS BOYCOTT OF SIXTH INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE
Washington, D.C., March 20, 1990...The National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force (NGLTF) will boycott the VI International Conference
on AIDS because of the U.S. Government's discriminatory AIDS and
gay and lesbian immigration and visitation policies.
In addition, NGLTF is calling on its more than 17,000
members nationwide, as well as other gay and lesbian
organizations and individuals, to boycott the conference,
scheduled for this June 20-24 in San Francisco, Calif. NGLTF is
encouraging activists to continue pressuring the government to
repeal the policies.
NGLTF is the first reported national U.S. gay and lesbian
civil rights organization to boycott the conference. The Task
Force joins more than 35 national and international organizations
that have chosen not to participate in the gathering, including
the National Association of People with AIDS, the International
League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Canadian AIDS
Society, Shanti Project and the Names Project International AIDS
Memorial Quilt.
NGLTF's decision to boycott the conference was made by its
board of directors at the Nashville, Tenn., board meeting on
March 18. NGLTF leaders said the group would rescind its boycott
only if travel restrictions on people with AIDS and gays and
lesbians are lifted.
"We believe the U.S. government policy of denying entry to
gay men and lesbians and people with AIDS and HIV is morally
reprehensible," said veteran NGLTF board member Rick Rudy. Rudy,
an openly gay person with AIDS, is also president of the Bay
Area-based High Tech Gays, which is strongly considering joining
the boycott. "We do not feel the conference can accomplish its
tasks if those most concerned are prohibited from attending."
Under current law, any person testing HIV-positive may be
excluded from the U.S., including tourists, refugees, people
seeking asylum and legalization, students, persons with special
visas to teach or conduct research, as well as persons who have
lived legally in the U.S. as students, laborers, or permanent
residents and are now seeking naturalization as citizens.
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