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Dale_M
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Well, it seems to be motivated by concern that the new infection rate among homosexuals seems to be rising, after many years of decline. The worry is that the younger generation, who didn’t live through the horrors of AIDS in the 1980s, view HIV as not a mortal danger but a chronic disease that can be managed… so these younger homosexuals seem to be increasingly engaging in unsafe sex. So the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center seems to want to reclaim the disease as “the gay plague” so that homosexuals will be more aware of the danger posed by HIV
Of course, as the article mentions, their campaign is controversial because it stigmatizes people who are infected but do not identify as gay, causing them to delay seeking testing or other medical attention.
Hispanics, too, comprise a much greater percentage of new infections compared to their percentage in the general population. So it could be argued that HIV/AIDS is a Hispanic disease too.
But I would have to agree with Harvey Weinstein, head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:
Of course, as the article mentions, their campaign is controversial because it stigmatizes people who are infected but do not identify as gay, causing them to delay seeking testing or other medical attention.
The ad campaign is also misleading because nationwide 47% of new infections are among African-Americans. In fact during the XVI International AIDS Conference which was held in August, Julian Bonds, the chairman of the NAACP, gave a speech saying: "“Now is the time for us to face the fact that AIDS has become a black disease,” adding, “It has invaded our house, and our leaders must accept ownership and fight it with everything we have”.
Hispanics, too, comprise a much greater percentage of new infections compared to their percentage in the general population. So it could be argued that HIV/AIDS is a Hispanic disease too.
But I would have to agree with Harvey Weinstein, head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:
HIV/AIDS is a disease that is a danger to all Americans. Marginalizing it into a disease only of minorities is a mistake because it encourages us to distance ourselves from the danger it poses.
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Trelow
Guest
rant
WHY IS IT SO DARN HARD TO KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!?!?!?!?
/rant
WHY IS IT SO DARN HARD TO KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!?!?!?!?
/rant
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bones_IV
Guest
Exactly.
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bones_IV
Guest
AIDS/HIV is 99.999% a behavior modified disease. Avoid sex outside of marriage (both doable and a matter of Catholic teaching) and IV narcotic use (see above) and your chances of catching these awful STDs is almost non-existant. But as usual society wants to absolve itself of the consequences of their actions. The best they can come up with is the pipe dream of condoms.
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Riley259
Guest
You speak the truth. Condoms have a 15% failure rate - russian roulette with HIV.
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renee1258
Guest
Oh… but and there is a but…“abstainence and monogamy are unrealistic”
young teens are told this, and believe it sadly not realizing it is realistic to abstain and be monogamous until it is too late. I joked with my husband just the other day and told him in a sarcastic manner “Do you realize I plan on being monogamous and abstain from sexual activity if there are grave reasons with you for the rest of my life.” He said “Thanks for coming to the conclusion after six years of marriage.”
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Dale_M
Guest
Which clearly is a mistake. People strive to achive the standard which is held out for them. If you set low standard, they are bound to meet only that.
I think one of the successes of the Bush Administration’s HIV/AIDS prevention programs is their insistence upon abstinence and faithfulness education.
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estesbob
Guest
I am suprised anyone still holds to the myth that AIDS is a danger to ALL Americans. Millions and millions of dollars were wastedr trying to convince heterosexuals they were at much as risk as homosexuals and intravaneous drug users. The truth is AIDS in the US still strikes almost exclusively these two groups. as a hetersoexual mongamous male my chances of catching AIDS are almost NIL.
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Dale_M
Guest
As long as you are monogamous, in a committed relationship, you have little chance of catching HIV. Being heterosexual helps, but HIV is being transmitted heterosexually in the African-American and Hispanic communities, so being heterosexual is not the great protector that it was, say, 10 years ago.
But yes, I agree with you that the scare tactics of 10-20 years ago were probably misguided because it has produced a “Boy who cried ‘wolf’” situation where people now disinclined to pay attention.
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bones_IV
Guest
One of the problems in Africa is the witch doctors and native religions. When a man in one of the native religions (or even some catholics or other christians consulting the witch doctors) contracts AIDs, he is told by these shamans that he will be cured by sleeping with a virgin. Another reason for the spread of AIDs in Africa is rampant pre-marital sex. The missionaries who go to Africa have been fighting this for decades.
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davy39
Guest
Well said, bones. When are people going to realize that they are responsible for their own actions? They want to blame the Church, the government, the democrats, the republicans, the weather, or anything else they can think of. Except for aids babies, and aids contracted for blood transfusions, I sometimes find little sympathy for some of them, but I do pray for them.
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ribozyme
Guest
Indeed, the best way to prevent the spread of HIV is to engage into responsible sexual activity, but condoms do show a 20 fold decrease in the transmission of AIDS in comparison without using a condom.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11773877&query_hl=14&itool=pubmed_docsum
Well, that abstract does have some unpleasant words there.
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