Sunday, August 3, 2008

Yep, it's GAY alright


by LifeLube's Jim Pickett



Remember a couple of years ago when the LA Gay and Lesbian Center ran ads like the one above?

Lot's of folks - gay and not - got their panties in a knot about this campaign.

"It´s not a gay disease anymore. The 'face of AIDS´has changed"

"A disease cannot have a sexuality."

"This campaing stigmatizes us even more."

And yadda yadda. Fact is - then and now - HIV is quite prevalent among gay men and men who have sex with men the world over, alarmingly so. In the United States and all over the place. Read previous blog posts right [on the AIDS2008 blog] that, sadly, tragically. back these claims up.

Pretending HIV is somehow a generalized epidemic just doesn´t sit with the facts in MOST of the world. Making believe that AIDS is everyone´s business, and that everyone is at risk, does no one a favor.


3 comments:

  1. You are an idiot. There are plenty of gay people without this disease. Are they not gay? Fool. jackass. Setting people back with your stupid ass bullshit about AIDS being a gay disease. You must be under thirty years of age you piece of shit. AIDS is a virus. You shameful cunt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ewe - with all due respect, I think you are missing the point. There is a distinction between saying "All gays have AIDS" and "AIDS is a gay disease" – and the media campaign said the latter.

    According to a CDC Report (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5424a2.htm), table 1:

    -1 in 4 gay men are HIV-positive
    -1 in 2 African-American gay men are HIV-positive
    -Overall, half (that’s 1 in 2) of gay men who HIV-positive did not know they were infected.

    And the CDC’s new incidence numbers indicate that more than half of new HIV infections are among gay men.

    Ewe, we have a HUGE problem in our midst. By pushing the argument that HIV is a generalized epidemic in the US, we have turned the attention (and resources) away from the most impacted community – our community. It’s time to start telling the truth, as painful as it is.

    I believe we can tell the truth about the epidemic without stigmatizing gay men and taking us back to the dark ages.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am not sure of the point of all the name calling and profanity. It allows people to dismiss your post as juvenile without considering whether you have a valid point.

    Not to be picky or technical but to address one of your questions - Ewe - AIDS is not a virus. HIV is a virus and AIDS is a diagnosis based on a cluster of commonly occurring conditions and symptoms following HIV infection. I assume you knew that but got caught up in your own invective.

    You are correct that plenty of people who are not gay are infected with or at risk for HIV infection. And to an extent, many people do think incorrectly that AIDS is a gay disease and can dismiss it as such. However, it is also true as John points out and I think is the point of the blog, that gays are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS even relative to other high risk groups such as injection drug users.

    To gloss over this point by suggesting that everyone is equally at risk is to misdirect attention and funding from the population hit hardest by the disease. I think that is the main concern of the blog.

    Perhaps better language could be used to make this point instead of stating that AIDS is a gay disease, which leads to the confusion and stigma that you seem to be profanely concerned over. But to lose the point entirely by misleading about HIV risk is, arguably, equally if not more damaging, shameful cunts not withstanding.

    ReplyDelete

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