In June 1995, three Republican Dallas County commissioners drafted a letter to 43 area doctors urging them to support the county’s recently enacted ban on the distribution of free condoms in high-risk neighborhoods by public health workers to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The letter, signed by Commissioners Kenneth Mayfield (pictured above), Mike Cantrell and Jim Jackson, called homosexuality unacceptable and compared it to drug abuse and prostitution.
“We don’t want anyone, especially anyone in authority, telling our children or future grandchildren that it’s an approved or acceptable lifestyle to be a homosexual, a prostitute or a drug user,†the letter stated. “And, we don’t intend to be the vehicle through which others are given this message.â€
Fourteen years later, Mayfield and Cantrell remain on the Commissioners Court, and their position on the condom ban hasn’t changed.
But this time, they found themselves in the minority, as the five-member court voted 3-2 Tuesday, Jan. 13, to overturn the ban.
Jackson is no longer on the court, and Republican Commissioner Maurine Dickey broke ranks with Mayfield and Cantrell, joining Democrats John Wiley Price and Jim Foster.
Foster, who’s openly gay, said Tuesday’s vote will allow the county health department to be proactive, rather than reactive, in combating HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
“It’s a big day in Dallas County,†Foster said after the vote. “We should have never been in this position.â€
The condom ban was enacted prior to the introduction of life-extending antiretroviral medications for people with HIV/AIDS, and one LGBT health advocate compared the policy at the time to “ethnic cleansing.â€
But Republican commissioners who enacted the ban maintained that the health department’s practice of distributing condoms and needle sterilization kits, which began in the mid-1980s, encouraged illegal and immoral behavior. It would be eight years after the condom ban before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Texas anti-sodomy law.
Even in 1995, though, mainstream medical groups strongly advocated the distribution of condoms to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. For example, the president of the Dallas County Medical Society and a contingent of infectious-disease physicians warned that the ban would lead to “a public health and a financial disaster.â€
This go-round, the county health department prepared a report noting that while the overall rate of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable over the last several years, some alarming trends have emerged in certain groups.
For example, while African-Americans make up only 20 percent of Dallas County’s overall population, in 2007 they accounted for 46 percent of all new HIV cases.
Meanwhile, the rate of new HIV infections among people ages 13 to 24 has nearly tripled in the last five years, and they now represent the highest-risk age group.
Also, in each of the last two years, Dallas County has had the highest rate of new HIV infections in the state.
Mayfield and Cantrell, however, weren’t convinced.
Mayfield made an issue out of the health department’s condom program during his initial campaign in 1994, when he defeated a Democratic incumbent.
And after Price, the lone member of the court to oppose the ban in 1995, proposed revisiting it in December of last year, Mayfield responded with an alternative.
Mayfield’s proposal would’ve allowed public health workers to distribute condoms only to certain people, such as those already diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or STDs.
But Mayfield scrapped the alternative before Tuesday’s meeting, instead offering a last-minute amendment that would have prohibited the distribution of condoms in schools.
The amendment failed, after Dickey said she was more concerned about the fiscal impact of HIV/AIDS. According to the health department’s report, the average lifetime cost of treating someone with HIV/AIDS is more than $600,000.
“I think we need to put the taxpayers first,†Dickey said before the vote. “If we prevent two people from getting AIDS in Dallas County, we will have saved over $1 million of the taxpayers’ money.â€
Zachary Thompson, director of the health department, told the court that decisions about distributing condoms in schools would be left up to individual districts.
Thompson also noted that Dallas had been the only major metropolitan area in Texas to prohibit public health workers from distributing condoms, which are provided at no cost by the state.
About two-thirds of all new HIV infections in Dallas County are among men who have sex with men, and LGBT health advocates praised Tuesday’s decision.
“At least we have begun the journey to not being the laughing stock of the nation, which is probably good for our image,†said Don Maison, executive director of AIDS Services of Dallas. “And the other thing that I think is really great, is that if you remember from the [2008] election, what’s happened to Dallas County now, I think there’s a good chance that the Commissioners Court will be cleaned up considerably, including the two who voted no.â€
While Tuesday’s vote was a step in the right direction, Maison added that it doesn’t’ undo the “incalculable damage†caused by the condom ban.
“I can look myself in the mirror. If I were Mayfield or Cantrell, I couldn’t,†Maison said. “It’s politics influenced by right wing Christians. It’s the religious right, and they think it’s OK if homosexuals become infected and die. I really believe that’s their mentality. … Think of the lives lost over these 14 years.â€
I’m glad they saw this as a financial crisis and not a health crisis. All sarcasm aside, good move for Dallas.
Good for Maruine. I am glad she did the right thing. I was afraid that she wouldn’t.
Where was Queer Liberaction during all of this? I guess this local issue, that actually affects the real lives of Dallas County LGBT people, was not part of their media whore agenda.
Unless a channel 5 camera is there to get good close ups of Blake and Gabe, then there is no need for QL to show up or get involved.
The county condom ban is an example of how local government affects the lives of its citizens. The ban was overturned because of the hard work and the convincing done by rational people in our community who educated Maurine about the harm the ban has caused.
The ban was not lifted because a group of privileged white gay boys threw a fit for the local news cameras.
Dallas Is Burning,
Um…why did you respond to the issue by talking about Blake and Gabe? If u have personal beef against them, keep it between the 3 of u and keep it off of the blog. The initial subject was about the condom ban not about Blake and Gabe. Jeez.
“why did you respond to the issue by talking about Blake and Gabe? ”
I asked a legitimate question about why QL was not involved with this issue?
I am still waiting for an answer.
“keep it off of the blog. ”
Then what is the point of instant tea? It is quite boring and few people ever comment. I think that a lively discussion is exactly what this tired bag of tea needs.
“keep it between the 3 of u”
I do not know, nor have ever met Blake or Gabe. I only know them from their many staged media events. And I don’t like what I see.
John Thomas’ statement was true then and is true today. That ban was passive aggressive form of ethnic cleansing. Don’t provide condoms and education and maybe they’ll ( meaning minorities) all just die off.
Good move on the part of Dallas to remove the ban. Bad move on the part of Dallas is Burning to bitch and moan. I would have liked to do something with this but there is only so much we can do. Maybe if people actually did some real work for advancing our equality instead of incessantly posting on the DV’s blog we might actually be able to get some things done.
It’s a bit silly that we have to explain our position on using the media again. It should be very simple to understand. Visibility in the public eye is effective for advancing our goals. We can recognize that multi-million dollar TV ad campaigns can produce positive results but somehow when local activists try to use the media to achieve the same goals there are some who hide behind fictitious blog names who would like to portray us as egotistical. Hell, I went into organizing the DOMA demo knowing that I would be doing the majority of work but also that I wouldn’t be able to be there the day of, effectively missing my shot at stardom.
So save your venom for those that want to bash us back into the closet. Don’t spew your crap at those that are trying to get a pro-Gay message in the media. In the end, we’re trying to change society so that you can use your real name when you post on a Gay blog and so that you wont be too ashamed to go to a Queer protest for fear of being caught on camera.
Queer Liberation is doomed to live a short life if its leaders whine like school girls every time they are criticized for their ego driven tactics.
I asked a legitimate question as to why the condom ban was not an issue that they got involved with. And the reason why they chose not to involve themselves was never answered.
I find it hard to take a group of young men seriously whose sole mission is to stage a series of protests around town demanding gay marriage, just so that they can get on TV and make the entire LGBT community look like a group of spoiled white gay men.
Blake and Gabe have chosen to make themselves public figures and with that comes scrutiny, sometimes harsh scrutiny.
I don’t like the two of them. I think they are going to realize after about six months that you can’t have a gay marriage protest every Saturday. At some point people just stop coming and the news stops covering them.
To advance LGBT equality, much more is required than yelling outside some random building for the 10 o’clock news.
As a straight man, whose name is Tom McPonnell btw, I just can’t tell you how silly you look when you go on TV and gripe about a gay marriage ban in California, while right here in your own town, the repealing of a decade old condom ban stirs not one word from you.
But finally, the saddest part is that Blake said,
“We can recognize that multi-million dollar TV ad campaigns can produce positive results”
They didn’t produce positive results in California. And it seems the only results your media saturation has brought you here are divisions in your own LGBT community.
I am so relieved that this ban has been lifted. We need to work harder to remove frivolous subjective “morality” based laws from our legal system!
On another note…
I think there is room in our activist community for many different methods and voices. I honestly don’t believe that Blake and Gabe are in this fight for media attention. I attended the Saturday rally against DoMA and Gabe declined to go in front of the media. He asked if I would speak to the media in his place (and I did). He didn’t even want to give his own speech to our crowd (I gave it for him).
I think we are all in this fight for the same general reasons: to form a more perfect union… to gain equality… to have happier lives. We just have different methods that we feel are effective in reaching those goals.
Why don’t we work together, every person contributing where they are best suited, instead of bickering amongst ourselves?
“Mayfield’s proposal would’ve allowed public health workers to distribute condoms only to certain people, such as those already diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or STDs.” — aha, great logic! “We don’t care if you die from it, but don’t give it to others!” closely followed by, “Oh, wait, nevermind. No condoms to see here! Forget to buy your own!”