Hype Machine
Benjamin Ryan’s POZ magazine feature “The Cure for HIV Is Not Around the Corner” (October/November 2015) questioned the hype and hyperbole in the main-stream media’s coverage of current HIV/AIDS research, and it argued that we might still be decades away from the end of ARV treatment.

Most who understand the science and politics at work realize “a cure is not around the corner.” A better article would’ve focused on what we can do to advocate for a cure. True leadership acknowledges a problem and proposes a solution.


Michael


No use in being pessimistic about it. We have to be more open-minded and inquisitive about our healthy futures.


Ace Monroe Zamora


Excellent summary of where we are with the search for a cure. HIV is a difficult virus to eradicate, but there is so much research going on that someday—maybe not in my lifetime (I’m 66)—a cure will likely be discovered.


DocJohninDC


We need to energize and support scientists working in this field. You see the trajectory of abstracts at the [International AIDS Conferences] from 2010 to now and it’s amazing. Science is hard work.


Yannis @mylittlebaklava


Fighting for Rights
In the POZ feature “Mission Critical” (October/November 2015), Rita Rubin examined the struggles that people living with HIV face in order to serve in the U.S. military.

I commend these American warriors having the courage to speak truth to power. After living five years with my spouse who is a retired officer, I have been privileged to know a lot about HIV and the political side of military leadership. The HIV rate has never been revealed in truth.


Frederick Wright-Stafford  


I turned HIV positive in 1985 while serving my second enlistment in the Navy. I remember the infectious disease officer came into my isolation room decked out in a “space suit” to give me the sentencing notice. I’m a longtime survivor, grateful that the military has taken good care of my medical condition throughout all these years.


Hugo Torres


As a Vietnam-era veteran who was diagnosed with HIV after serving in the U.S. Army, I understand the stigma, medical and mental wellness issues. We need to bring standards up to date so that military people with HIV may serve fairly and openly.


Reggie Dunbar II


Speaking Out
HIV activists and Who’s the Boss? fans alike applauded when former child star Danny Pintauro disclosed his HIV-positive status during an Oprah TV special. He earned further sympathy after a confrontational interview on ABC’s The View. But as his “Beacon of Light” tour went on, he received criticism for claiming that he always used condoms properly, and so he must have contracted HIV from oral sex, saying “It’s that easy.” POZ blogger Mark S. King was among those who took Pintauro to task with the post “How Do We Solve a Problem Like Pintauro?” (October 7, 2015). Pintauro has since clarified that he is not sure how he got HIV.

I have great hopes for Danny as an advocate. He certainly got a lot of people talking about HIV. I just hope he can get to the place where he realizes that it doesn’t really matter how he was infected. What matters is how you handle it, and what’s next.


Charles


Why are you on the one hand giving him the space for incongruity under the weight of stigma while at the same time projecting onto him your sensationalist accusations? He’s trying to muster up the courage to share his own narrative. Enliven, enlighten and clarify if you must, [but] without the antics.


RCD


He clearly did not map this out for himself in face of public scrutiny. He may need some help and guidance. I don’t need him to publicly disclose his details. He just needs to be honest with himself.


Bill Brochinsky 


Mark S. King replies: Let me be the first to call myself out: My take on Danny is pretty rough on him. This is certainly not how I would typically treat a fellow person living with HIV, and certainly not someone newly diagnosed. But Danny’s situation felt different to me; he walked (back) into the spotlight and asked to be seen as a role model and arbiter of gay social/sexual conduct. Our community deserves prominent people discussing HIV—but not at any cost.