My offer for a free dinner for Andrew Sullivan

I really like Andrew Sullivan's shirt in this pic.

I would like to offer Andrew Sullivan a free dinner. Nora, the Palm, wherever. And for a poor scientist, this is a fair piece of my meager salary. But I want to have dinner to listen. Jimbo told me today during our weekend pump-up that he likes Andrew. I, however, would like to listen to where Andrew is coming from. I understand it would be an imposition, but as a scientist, I realized that I am not being fair in my opinion and need to gather more data. The bribe of a free dinner and two very open ears for Andrew is a paltry offer, but it would be an opportunity for me to clear up some of where he is coming from.

1. Post-AIDS: I wanted to see what Andrew's thoughts are on vaccine development. I participated in a Merck-sponsored trial in Sacramento during grad school - it was a very meaningful event and hopefully not a waste of my time. I want to know if we are indeed in a post-AIDS world. Big pharma spends so much on advertising and the "management strategies" of retrovirals while spending far less on vaccine development. I know this is a slippery issue since an HIV vaccine is not trivial and big pharma has to make a profit. But we are not in the mid-90s - what is the role of big pharma and government science in the current situation?

2. Virtually Normal: What is the role of gay Americans to assimilate to the values of heterosexual America? Is gay marriage a realistic option and, as an extension, what is the state of heterosexual marriage now? I don't know the right choice for gays, is there an answer or is it a morass? But what is a realistic goal for the average gay American to form a partnership in the current atmosphere? And what does the gay majority vote for to effect change?

3. HIV and the gaylings: When young gays want to get "seeded" and HIV/AIDS is marketed as a version of diabetes (i.e. a chronic but managable condition), what does the gay establishment tell the average gayling? What are the choices in this age of crystal meth, Viagra, and the appearance of non-lethality?

4. Mary Cheney: What on earth do we, the gay majority, do with this? She is playing both sides against the middle. How does the gay establishment, and the gay middle class, handle an insider who is not an ally for our drive for political equivalence? Do we throw her under the bus as a pariah? What is her role in the current political discourse when she insists that her fetus is merely a child, and not a political football?

5. 2008: Do the gays, using the existing infrastructure, unite in the primaries to throw our voting weight and monies into this formative deomcratic stage to select a candidate? Do we support the Breck Girl, Obama, Hillary or the more peripheral candidates? The primaries have very low representation (relatively speaking) with very significant consequences (to wit: John Kerry in 2004) and what power should the gay vote hold in the primaries?

6. Education: Should the gay organizations move towards a more education-centric goal in the near term? Private corporations see the value in gay workers and these market-based changes in benefits and person-to-person interactions at work have effected change at an individual level in tandem with the "liberal press". Should the gay majority focus on making sure that every homo who needs monies for education get it and advertise it widely? Is it a viable option or is it a bottomless pit?

7. Grass roots targeting of local elections: See next post for more. Should the gay organizations recalibrate their efforts at the local level? Should mobilization of the local gays and their votes and monies be a priority in the near term?


I do hope one of my readers can forward this onto Andrew if they have a direct route (I lack it at this moment). Free dinner (the bribe) and a chance to get some insight (the goal) would be ideal. I firmly believe the gay community and organizing activists are going in the wrong direction. I would like to talk about a role in effecting change (if viable) and get some feedback.