All Things Considered, August 6, 2008 · The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says annual increases in rates of infection among young, gay black men are the highest in any demographic group in the U.S. One member of the community says it will take more than condoms to change that.Listen Now [4 min 52 sec]
I appreciate NPR doing this story. I think it sheds some light onto HIV in the black community - or just being gay in the black community - for many people who are naive to it. However, there is one phrase that stood out to me and made me take a bit of offense.
ReplyDelete"Christopher let his guard down. He had sex with someone he should not have trusted."
I wish they would have left the judgment out of it. With that statement, they are framing all HIV positive men to be distrustful and devious. In reality, there was a 50% chance that the person that transmitted HIV to Christopher didn't know his status. I wish they would have focused on the behavior. Instead, she should have said, "Christopher let his guard down. He had unprotected sex." Because isn't that really what it's about. About a behavioral lapse, not a moment of trickery. Sure, there is the possibility that it was manipulation by the partner. And I agree, trust is a factor that is brought up in the vast majority of new HIV infections. But can't we discuss trust in less of a blaming way and more of an awareness, misconception, and/or erroneous belief sort of way?