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I understand the U=U and I believe the scientific evidence is there, but as someone who has lived with this virus for 25 years, the last thing I want to do is risk it. I don't know if others feel the same way, but I don't want anyone else to have to deal with the uncertainty of this virus that I've dealt with all this time. First, it was the acceptance that I was infected, then the loss of potential partners due to the infection. I refuse to put others through that and won't risk it.
I think it speaks volumes that a self-described physician in an HIV site just compared folks with HIV to spiders in an attempt to argue that we’re not stigmatized because we’re not “held in disgrace”.
Michael, Richard is right. Fear and disgrace are two completely different things. To fear someone is not to hold them in disgrace. People can respect and adore spiders while having fear of them. People can fear bees while still holding them in a state of adoration and respect. It's the same thing with people.
The date of this study is key here as dissemination has been rapid over recent times So I went to the original research and found it isn’t 2018 as stated here but data collected in May-June 2017. The error in the article is significant and undermines the conclusions reached. It is in fact reasonable to assume that knowledge of U=U would have been much greater in 2018 and even greater at present.
This 'stigma', silence, ignorance, and fear continues to exist painfully among heterosexual HIV-negative men as well - particularly among HIV-negative men of color.
You're not saying your sex life is more important than someone else's health, life or safety? How do you think we got into the big mess we're in? Gaetan Dugas, you might pass it along, fuck 'em doc.
If HIV negative people want to stay that way, don't blame them. They have a right to be careful. Also two people seem cured but we were wrong about the others. Their HIV came back. And maybe the Berlin and London patients, too. If you are having trouble getting a date, perhaps it is because you made a mistake they don't want to make.
Canis Lupus
Fear does not equal stigma. Choice allows a person to avoid an encounter they choose not to experience period. There is no judgment made when I choose not to experience sex with a HIV+UD person. Makes no difference if fear motivates my choice or not, not having sex with HIV POZ UD people is every HIV Negative Mans absolute right. Stigma is when fear turns to physical or psychological violence by HIV- people against HIV infected people. HIV-'s saying no to HIV-POZ sex is not stigma it's choice!
October 22, 2020