Here is a shocker...H.I.V. Cases on the rise for young gay men!- Page 4

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 3:37pm

thanks Diva!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 3:38pm

Yeah, I thought there was an Ali Gertz who said she got HIV from her denitst, but I just started googling her and all information says she she got it from a sexual encounter. It looks like a lot of us took the Kimberly Bergalis story and put Gertz's name on it.

ETA: Thanks, Diva! Updated On: 1/6/08 at 03:38 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 3:55pm

Either way, the Gertz and Bergalis stories are presented in the palatable "innocent victim" narrative (no matter their actual veracity), which still dominates discussion of the HIV epidemic to this day. Consequently, the complicated and intricate minefield that is HIV risk related behaviors is pretty much unexplored, at least anywhere in the mainstream media.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 5:15pm

Ally, had sex with a hot guy at a bar. She got it from him.
She spent the rest of her life trying to help teach about AIDS.
All I was saying was to be careful.
AIDS is a crisis that needs to be corrected.

Everyone is at risk! No one ever thought someone like Ally would get this terrible disease. Condoms are you're friend. Updated On: 1/6/08 at 05:15 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 5:21pm

That's the official, digestible story. The one in which she somehow (long before the technology to do so was available) was able to trace the HIV to her very first act of sexual intercourse and completely rule out any other sexual partners she'd had sex with after that.

You see what I'm saying? It doesn't matter how or when people get HIV, what matters is why. But there is next to no exploration of reasons why, because that is complicated and uncomfortable. It's about sex, it's about drugs, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, it's about the extremely intricate intersections of an entire HOST of factors that have an impact on a single choice in a single moment in time, isolated in an ocean of such choices and external factors across a lifetime.

No wonder our culture gravitates toward the "innocent victim" narratives. They're so much easier to deal with.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 5:26pm

Making love is a beautiful thing! Make love, but be smart about it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 5:27pm

Um, well, case closed then. I guess it's much less complicated than I bothered to explain.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 8:23pm

"Ally, had sex with a hot guy at a bar. She got it from him."

and how did she know this? Was he the only unprotected sex she had ever had? Or the only one she ever had? Or was he a convenient person to blame?

"AIDS is a crisis that needs to be corrected."

corrected? CORRECTED? TOO LATE.......just how would you correct thousands of deaths?
CURED......There needs to be a cure.


It cracks me up that so many try to figure out WHO they got HIV/AIDS....as Namo says...IT DOESN'T MATTER.. what does matter is "why" and then what you do with you life......

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 10:46pm

They need to find a cure.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 10:54pm

Realistically speaking, that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

A vaccine would be good, but that's a very long way off as well.

So, in the meantime, AmFAR says "Prevention is the Cure," even though that phrase is an appleorange.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/6/08 at 11:07pm

Prevention:
CONDOMS.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 11:14am

Yes, that is a very important tool in the prevention of the spread of HIV. But it is not the only tool. And there are potential new ones that need to be researched and developed.

But not everyone is going to have the motivation and/or the wherewithal to use a condom every single time.

The difficult discussion that needs to be had is what is an acceptable level of new HIV infections? Because it's impossible to eliminate them. There is a point beyond which new infections will still continue to happen but the epidemic will not expand.

[blueroses]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 11:34am

They can start by eliminating those crazy abstinence only programs. Of course, parents and the PRIVATE, religious institutions are free to talk about sex ed in any way they choose (though I wish they'd be more responsible), but in this day and age, it's inexcusable what passes for comprehehsive sex "education" in some public schools.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 11:45am

Teaching "abstinance only" is not only crazy, it's quite dangerous. It ignores the kids who will eventually have sex (the majority) as if they are not as valuable, simply because noone wants to talk about sex. It's scary how far we've snapped back on this issue.
It still comes down to being percieved as a "bad" person's disease, and that's because it is associated with sex, and gay sex in particular...which equals sluts and fags to most people. I really dont believe it's gone much beyond that, as much as many have tried to shed light to the contrary.

I know I quote Designing Women too often, but have we really gone too far beyond where we were during the "Ima Jean" episode? That was called "Killing All the Right People" and it aired 20 years ago.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 11:53am

No, unfortunately things haven't changed all that much.

And you'd think with all of the advances in medicine, that folks cou8ld come up with something better than, "Put on a condom!"

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 11:58am

"And you'd think with all of the advances in medicine, that folks cou8ld come up with something better than, "Put on a condom!"

Yeah, I often wonder about how time consuming and expensive it is to make advances in medicine. For instance, how long and and how much money has Jerry Lewis raised for MD? How many decades have we been giving money for cancer research? And of course, AIDS. How many millions and how many years does it take?

I'm not suggesting foul play, just amazed at the time and money it takes.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:08pm

It took them less time to get Viagra on the market.

[javero]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:26pm

Do you folks think there's a way in which we could get our questions and concerns about this very contemporary issue onto the table for discussion during the post-NH Presidential primary debates?

The topic was bouncing around my head while viewing the NH debates recently. This is another one of those hot potato topics that both parties dodge at every turn. It dovetails with healthcare reform in our great nation. I for one would like those Presidential candidates to speak to this particular issue. It would be rather insightful.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:32pm

I REFUSE to turn this into a polictcal thread.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:42pm

Well, AIDS by nature is political, but the short answer to Javero's question is no.

[javero]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:42pm

Would it be more appropriate for me to start up another thread after the NH primaries, working title 'The Politics of HIV/AIDS'?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:45pm

Yeah, sure. But you can disabuse yourself of the notion that there is any way the parameters of the discussion are going to change before the election. They aren't.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:46pm

Do the candidates read BWW?

[javero]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 12:56pm

Finding Namo,

The question you pose "the difficult discussion that needs to be had is what is an acceptable level of new HIV infections?" is what prompted me to chime in. I don't claim to have the answer simply approaching it as an unmarried man, not some politico. I also agree that some rather tough ethical questions must be put out for discussion in both the near term and down the road. I've lost my share of friends to treat this crisis glibly.

Updated On: 1/7/08 at 12:56 PM