European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 21, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday september 21, 1985 by Ollise. Conklin United press International it s a subdued Happy hour at the Wellington any bar in North Hollywood about 15 Well dressed men Are having a drink mid the warm quiet Wash of conversation. The bartender a wiry Young Man with Short Brown intr. Breaks the week night rhythm and asks one of to men about Greg he is still in critical condition might not make it is Greg s Lover. The bartender shakes his head pours himself a Brandy and the two men Exchange a secret gaze of grief. The sickening fear striking Specter of aids the incurable and deadly disease whose victims Are mostly male homosexuals and bisexuals has made another visit to the Wellington. Jim Verlian and his Friend Jeffrey agree to Dine at Home this night and discuss the wine they la share together. We be left the Allcy Cal bars and those godawful  Verlian later tells a Man seated next to him. I mean if Rock Hudson can t kill it nobody  a few Miles away one Way bar owner Larry Tagney talks about How he recently put up the fight aids poster the former proprietor Tore Down thinking them Loo depressing business Here is Down Way Down Tagney says. People s friends Are dying. It s getting to the Point where in to looking at each other and saying who s next aids that s All anyone Here is talking about but i la Tell you one thing it s not Good for  everyone in. Suffering now said Melinda Tremaglio. Owner of Englebert a a trendy Gay restaurant in West Hollywood. The Guys Aren t partying or drinking As much now. The Beer distributors Tell me most of the bars have gone from 100 cases to 60 cases. The Guys Aren t coming out and i Don t Larne them Tremaglio said. No amount of advertising will change that  the virtual hysteria that envelops aids believed transmitted by sexual Contact has altered the living and spending habits of Gay America perhaps permanently. The san Francisco aids foundation s recent Survey of 500 Gay and bisexual men revealed that since August 1984 respondents having More than one sex partner declined from 49 to 36 percent. Further the number of two income Gay couples has increased from 52 percent to 61 percent in the last year according to the Gay Market report a quarterly financial Survey conducted by the advocate the nation s largest Gay Magazine. A surge in the numbers of men in committed relationships has sparked changing spending patterns the report concluded. Travel entertainment real estate and Home entertaining Are Only a Lew of the Market sectors in which Gay couples Are concentrating their relatively High discretionary incomes says the report. Wilh male monogamy in Vogue and sate sex the new exhortation from the medical Community the Gay Economy has witnessed some strange twists and Tunis. Some kind of Community response to aids. I believe is underlying All the changes in patterns the Way people conduct relationships the Way people see  said de Nicholas president of the greater Gotham business Council in new York City which has More than 200 Gay owned firms As members. Although bathhouses Are shuttered and Gay bars Are sagging male dating services catering to Iong Lerm relationships Are gathering momentum and Telephone sex services Are on the Rise. Business is up. Way up and aids is definitely a  said Mark King owner of Tele erotic a homosexual phone sex firm in Hollywood. The service costs $36.60, Tor which the client secures an erotic 20-minute conversation with another Man. The most common comment we get is with this aids scare going on i figure this is a better idea than going out tonight " King said. At them Lima manufacturers of prophylactics have reported a brisk increase in sales Over the past six months responding of warnings against the Exchange of potentially infective bodily fluids. This aids has Given us a real shot in the Arm. We re up 7to percent in sales Over this time last year said Milt Bryson. Director of marketing Lor the largest condom producer in the nation Young drugs product co. In Piscataway . Beac goers in new Jersey and Long Island regularly accosted by airborne advertisements plugging soft drinks everyone s Publ pm Rottel your War those Row us or. Mervyn Silverman displays posters and leaflets meant to educate people about aids. Who s next fear of aids grips Gay communities and suntan Oil this summer watched planes tugging plan ahead with Ramses banners. They Are sponsored by Schmid laboratories inc. Of Little Falls . The country s second largest manufacturer of condoms. Some health insurance companies Are considering special supplemental aids coverage while others like nationwide insurance co., have started extra screenings of single male applicants trom new York new Jersey California and Florida in an Effort to avoid financial losses from the spread of aids. Coastal insurance co. In Santa Monica calif., began last january to offer a supplemental policy advertising extensively in Gay publications and medical journals. About 800 policies have been sold at $194 a year said vice president Jim Hotinger. One policyholder has died and two other aids claims Are pending. Gays Are spending their Money in other ways  said Robert Silver managing editor of the advocate. Our readership Survey shows Gays Are coupling like never before and spending Money on Home videos Home furnishings food couple Type things rather than going to bars movies and stuff Silver said. The Gay Market report noted that 55 percent of the 500 men it interviewed owned video recorders and that Hall of the remaining 45 percent plan to buy one in the next 12 months. Advocate sales director Larry Kaufman said the Magazine has had a Large increase in Vitamin nutrition and health club advertising while nightclub and restaurant ads have dwindled. And the club Baths that Are in every major City Are now calling themselves club body  Kaufman said people just Aren t socializing now. I just had lunch in a Gay restaurant and it was me and another table said Gerry Goulet owner of the Hollywood spa a once renowned Bathhouse now being marketed As a health club like Many other bathhouses across the country. No More group sex. It s just a place to meet now or get in  Goulet said Gays Are much More health conscious  said san Francisco aids foundation director Tim Wolfred. The real popular Gay bars Are really losing business but in the Castro District a Gay stronghold in san Francisco we re seeing lots of Vitamin stores popping up and the gyms Are doing a Strong  Harry Boyman owner of the ambush a Gay bar near san Francisco s Haight Street said his business is Down 20 percent Over the past three months. Ever since the Rock Hudson thing it s really gotten bad Boyman said. Gregg a a bar in Hollywood instituted a straight night last month. We needed to do something to improve  said owner David esses who purchased the bar when its former owner committed suicide three months ago after learning he had aids. Dating services Are apparently picking up some of the lost bar business. The people that come to me Don t have sex right away. They re More careful wanting to be More  said David Kulman. Owner of David the match maker in los Angeles. Although there is a $400 annual Lee attached Kuzman said his business has grown steadily the last two years because his aids frightened Gay clients Are serious about finding the right person. Aids had to change the Way we took at ourselves because it s such a serious  Nicholas said. It a threat to the health and Well being of so Many people that i Don t see How it could not have changed us. And it