The bigotry that keeps AIDS alive

[Blue_Tires]

The spread of HIV will go on until gay men can seek treatment without fearing for their safety

By David Furnish


Why is Aids such a horribly tenacious disease? Statistics released by Unaids for World Aids Day share some encouraging developments – new HIV infections worldwide have decreased by 19 per cent since 1999. However, there is a disturbing lack of progress in reducing HIV infection among gay men, particularly in developing countries. Experts have long stated that HIV epidemics cannot be successfully quelled unless the underlying spread of HIV by male-to-male sex is addressed. Yet, across the globe, socially accepted homophobia and violence against sexual minorities have created barriers to HIV-prevention efforts in this population.


To shed light on a problem that concerns me deeply as a gay man, I spoke with Dr Robert Carr of the International Council of Aids Service Organisations – a leading advocate for human rights from the Caribbean. A disturbing picture emerged from our conversation of the ways politicians and religious and social leaders – all around the world – have justified the isolation, harassment, abuse, violation and even murder of sexual minorities in the name of preserving religious beliefs or family and community "values".

What follows in the wake of this inhumane treatment of stigmatised people is the inevitable rise in rates of HIV infections and deaths due to Aids, not only among vulnerable groups, but also within the general population. Fear and isolation prevent people exposed to the virus from seeking HIV testing and treatment, and the disease continues to spread unabated. "It can be very dangerous to be gay in the Caribbean," Dr Carr told me, "and to speak up is to risk bodily harm."

Although Caribbean attitudes about people living with HIV/Aids have become much more tolerant in recent years, the opposite has been the case for sexual minorities. Homosexuality triggers tremendous hostility in all sectors of Caribbean society. "There is great resistance to the idea that men who have sex with men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons are deserving of social and legal protections," Dr Carr said. "Many reject the idea that the brutalisation of sexual minorities is wrong."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-bigotry-that-keeps-aids-alive-2148036.html

[delightfulstar]

1. K&R...

We need to try to eradicate the bigotry and the misconceptions. People need to wake up and realize that HIV/AIDS may not be curable yet, but is treatable. This is a condition that millions of people live with - not some adbsurd, archaic Scarlet Letter that they should be scourged for. Most people who contract HIV/AIDS don't ask for it any more than people asked to get Polio in the early 20th century. We're talking about something terrible that happens to people, and we need to do what we can to encourage responsible behavior (regardless of sexual orientation), and to reach out to people who need treatment.

From the "Straight, but not Narrow-Minded" camp... :-)

[Bluenorthwest]

2. The bigotry that keeps AIDs alive is both homophboic and racist

and it comes from politicians and 'religious leaders'. Period.