Corpus is an HIV prevention journal that uses art, cultural criticism, poetry, short stories and humor to reveal the resilience in gay and bisexual communities. Corpus is produced once a year by Sexual Health Xchange (SHX) member, AIDS Project Los Angeles, and distributed for free across the country.
This fall issue - the 6th in a series - looks at the experiences, challenges and magic of gay men living in rural areas. As we attempt to forge viable national (and increasingly international) responses to the epidemic among gay and bisexual men, most official AIDS industry ideas and information emanate from the coasts and large central cities. There are reasons for this, having to do with power and politics, and because gay men and the disease are most highly concentrated in large, urban areas that therefore bear the brunt of the epidemic and serve as contact nodes for transmission. But those of us who operate in the metropolis can sometimes confuse our own needs for those of all gay men. This oversight is problematic and more silencing than any lonely country road, because the disease and the needs of gay men take on particular nuances across the many, diverse rural communities nationwide.
The AIDS pandemic is rapidly expanding in the South and on too many Native American reservations. How are rural gay men and their communities responding? Rural life has its own pace, one whose rhythms are dictated not only by development but also by growing seasons, unbuilt and wide-open spaces, and fewer bodies to either compete or connect with. What do these rhythms have to teach us about desire and wellness? A forest's sense of two hundred year growth? A mountain's millennial wisdom regarding survival? A rural, elder homosexual's stoic sense of subtlety? A teen queen's negotiation of family, boyfriend and belonging?
Just as our rural, urban and suburban communities are linked by history, weather and commerce (Who grew that food we're eating? Where was our favorite TV show produced?), so too are we connected by HIV. AIDS is a disaster. It is also an opportunity. As global trends in the pandemic and the movements in our own personal lives have shown, AIDS continues to require a more comprehensive, inclusive and holistic approach toward prevention and health.
Thus this issue of Corpus is not about locking down an airtight definition of country queers or creating yet another social service category. Like all previous issues of the journal, this edition instead seeks meaningful connections between people, places and possibilities. From the Pacific Northwest to the Heartland, Arkansas to Utah, Virginia to the Dakotas, New Mexico to Mississippi, Canada to California's Central Valley, this issue of Corpus encourages a strong rural presence in our shared conversations about gay men, HIV and the challenging and cherished moments of living in the country.
Check out Corpus here. And let us know what you think, leave a comment!
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