The Queen of Denial
My blog posting earlier this week inspired a lot of passionate responses. And that's what I hope my blogs do: make people think (unless I can make them laugh, which is a different kind of blog and an even better response).
Usually, I wouldn't make a second blog out of the same subject, but the response I just got to this blog, I think is worthy of your attention. The person below seems to think the AIDS crisis for gay men is over, or at least not worthy of mention since, as he says, most infections are among heterosexuals now.
I don't know about that. I hope he's right. But I do know that unsafe sex, especially when combined with crystal meth use, are on the rise. I easily found this on the web, from www.thebodypro.com, the HIV/AIDS Resource for Healthcare Professionals:
"Crystal methamphetamine use continues to fuel a rising number of HIV cases among white men who have sex with men and the term "on the down low" -- which typically describes men who have sex with both male and female partners but do not mention their male relationships to friends, family members or female partners -- should be applied to all races, not just to black men, according to studies presented Wednesday at CDC's 2005 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Wahlberg, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6/16). Officials from the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center on Wednesday presented data based on 19,300 HIV tests conducted over four years. Center employees asked MSM if they had used crystal meth since their last HIV test or in the previous two years, whichever was more recent. Data showed almost one in three MSM who tested positive in 2004 said they had used crystal meth, nearly triple the rate of meth use among MSM testing HIV-positive in 2001, center officials said. More than 10% of all MSM tested at the center in 2004 said they had used meth, almost double the rate from 2001. Many experts agree that meth use is a "growing threat" to MSM nationwide because it increases arousal and reduces inhibition, often encouraging people to seek multiple sexual partners, which could put MSM at an increased risk of contracting HIV, the Los Angeles Times reports. Being Alive, a Los Angeles-area coalition of people living with HIV/AIDS, later this month plans to launch a campaign encouraging meth users to get HIV/AIDS education and treatment (Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 6/16)."
It's ironic that if you go to the poster below's page, you'll see he talks in his profile about "partying" and "party favors," terms commonly associated with crystal meth use (maybe all he's talking about are cocktails; I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt).
Anyway, his response shows, I think, a shocking amount of denial about HIV in the gay community. Which is exactly why I write blogs like "Getting a Workout at the Health Club." Here's what he had to say:
With all of your creative writing skills, you left out one thing...HIV/AIDS is the fastest growing among Heterosexuals, not same gender male couples. In fact in the homosexual populace, because it has been so open about treatment and prevention, it has dropped by nearly 60% since it was first called GRIDS (Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in 1971.
These days you have much more of a chance of contracting this disease if you are straight than if you are an out gay man. HIV/AIDS rose that fastest among heterosexuals, especially ethnic minorities from 1998 to the present, and outstrips members of the LGBT population by 32%.
Did you get your thrills from writing this story. This is about as close as you can come to Gay Bashing without doing so. Which evangelical Church do you belong to? I bet you are Baptist. maybe Mormon. You thing you are so clever..
What's amazing to me is that it's not gay people who get wrapped up in this sort of action, it's the straight obsessed perverts like Ted Haggard who obsess about it instead of acknowledge the fact that they can't stop thinking about it, and be honest with themselves--but then again it takes balls to be a fairy.
What is your agenda with this story, because that's what it is..a made up story..so is it to scare or shock? Are you trying to scare the gay out of someone?...well it won't work...your kind of people is exactly why sometimes this behavior happens in the first place...It's homophobic at best...What state has the highest incidence of sexually tranmitted diseases? Why it's the state of ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Virginia of course, the home of the highest per capita evangelicals than anywhere on the face of the globe.
But then again, you evangelicals know all that is best..and of course you can justify your narrow minded crap because God has spoken to you and told you to do it..
Come on...you couldn't help but watch...you get boners with other guys watching...???
SECONDLY, THIS YOUNG MAN HAS AN INCREASED POSSIBILITY OF CONTRACTING HIV--A one time pop doesn't mean he will automatically have AIDS. IT MAY NEVER MANIFEST INTO FULL BLOWN AIDS, AND THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD POSITIVE PARTNERS FOR YEARS AND NEVER CONTRACTEd THE DISEASE THEMSELVES...
I am sorry, but it's not a fair disease...some people get it right off the bat, but I know a bare bottom that is pretty risky in my opinion, and he continually tests negative, he is not an exception..
So maybe you should get a little more educated when it comes to your stupid stories..they are rude, crude, and just plain down right horrible..and typical of the unoriginal urban myth, shock ending crap that you folk spew without regards to who it might actually hurt..
GET A LIFE...
And here's my response:
Sorry the post upset you so much. BUT...number one, this is not a made up story; it's true and I witnessed it at a gym in downtown Chicago. Number two, gay men are still getting infected and bareback sex is becoming more and more prevalent (just go to any gay hookup site and see how many guys are looking for just that; unprotected anal sex is one of the best ways to transmit the virus and if you think that's no longer happening in our community, you're burying your head in the sand). I know that one exposure doesn't automatically lead to infection...the point, though, is that it CAN and ultimately one exposure IS the one that infects. Third, I am not an evangelical Christian. I am an out, proud, and HIV+ gay men who cares about his brothers and doesn't want to see them in the same boat as I'm in, which is why I think stories like this one are important.
And finally, I have no need to "get a life" because I have a very good one, thank you very much.