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I just saw The Gift. I have to admit, I thought that stories of guys out there deliberately becoming infected with HIV was a myth. But it seems to be real.
The consensus is now that HIV-education has backfired. In the early days, the educational material was very harsh to steer people away from unsafe sex, but it wound up demonizing people who have HIV. Then we put a lot of effort into making HIV+ people realize that they could still have a life, and fighting prejudice and discrimination against them.
A worthy cause, but buff, gorgeous guys with nary a symptom of illness talking about avoiding HIV (but not why it should be avoided) have somehow managed to convince a lot of people that the disease isn't dangerous. Keeping people in low-level constant fear while never explaining the reason for the fear makes an education program seem as empty as those terrorist warnings in the US.
We hide behind euphemisms, now -- "drug cocktail," "the bug," -- and we don't bring it up in conversation. And living in MacDonald's-world, now, where everything is about instant gratification with no responsibility, the idea of limiting pleasure with a condom -- or even taking the trouble to put one on -- seems too much of an effort to sustain.
Gad. I've already buried one friend. I don't want to have to bury half my generation like some of my older friends did.
How do we handle a campaign against HIV that gets the message across without demonizing the people who have it?
Things are getting desperate at this point, and we're also under assault from crystal meth pushers and that other disease, the religious right. We have to start talking about these things, and we have to start fighting back. Frankly, we need the energy of the 1970s Gay Liberation movement, and we need it now.
The consensus is now that HIV-education has backfired. In the early days, the educational material was very harsh to steer people away from unsafe sex, but it wound up demonizing people who have HIV. Then we put a lot of effort into making HIV+ people realize that they could still have a life, and fighting prejudice and discrimination against them.
A worthy cause, but buff, gorgeous guys with nary a symptom of illness talking about avoiding HIV (but not why it should be avoided) have somehow managed to convince a lot of people that the disease isn't dangerous. Keeping people in low-level constant fear while never explaining the reason for the fear makes an education program seem as empty as those terrorist warnings in the US.
We hide behind euphemisms, now -- "drug cocktail," "the bug," -- and we don't bring it up in conversation. And living in MacDonald's-world, now, where everything is about instant gratification with no responsibility, the idea of limiting pleasure with a condom -- or even taking the trouble to put one on -- seems too much of an effort to sustain.
Gad. I've already buried one friend. I don't want to have to bury half my generation like some of my older friends did.
How do we handle a campaign against HIV that gets the message across without demonizing the people who have it?
Things are getting desperate at this point, and we're also under assault from crystal meth pushers and that other disease, the religious right. We have to start talking about these things, and we have to start fighting back. Frankly, we need the energy of the 1970s Gay Liberation movement, and we need it now.
