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There is a big disconnect between the newer generation LGBT leadership and newer PLWHA generation in general. In each group, they missed the 80's. In fact some of us have had the virus longer than they have been on this earth and yet they have the kahunas to speak on our behalf. To be blunt, many suck as they have no clue other than how to collect a paycheck. AIDS Inc. at its finest.This goes for the national HIV groups as well..
Men over 40 still want that porn movie moment when their erection springs free of their clothing like porn actor. We feel like we deserve it, and we feel like it is normal and if we can't produce that display, we become bottoms just to escape humiliation. So I think we should give them all a big hug and a T-shirt that says, "I am not my dick". instead of continuing to call them stupid for not wearing condoms. Men can not enjoy condoms without getting past false ideas about the penis from porn.
As a straight man I do notice how accepting and understanding gay people are when it comes to HIV. POZ.com forums are a reflection of this. When I thought I was infected I found poz.com and I turned to a gay couple in my friendship circle who were fantastic. They counseled me for three months through to my final negative diagnosis. Don't be so hard on your own community, because as an outsider looking in it's a truly commendable community.
Brad, no one wants to talk about "disclosure" to you because you reinforce the idiotic notion that wearing a scarlet letter is going to stop a disease primarily spread by people who don't know their status. No one wants to deal with stigma as prevention Fowler, especially when they just want to get their rocks off.
Our community isn't getting the air-time because there's just too much of our s*&t that don't nobody really want to talk about, and they're conversations we need to have. Equal Marriage gained ground when they dropped discrimination from the conversation, focussing instead on Love. We played our Equality card to access care. Now at the Responsibility portion of the game, we're tasked to explain barebacking, drugs, and promiscuity. And "Impacts of Oppression" don't sell.
Wow! You said so well what I have been sensing since the early days myself. HIV is the proverbial "elephant in the living room" within the LGBT communities. Everyone knows it's there but no one openly acknowledges it directly any more. I have always tried to pay homage to HIV for the role it played in the advance of LGBT civil right. For example, teaching that the results of self-esteem building from equal civil rights can significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
Reading this is funny, because today's LGBT community seems to be absent and lost in a heterosexual mind state and because of this we don't connect unless we're connecting in cyberspace for sex. I cannot connect with one HIV positive male in Michigan that wants to discuss disclosure andor take part in anything that deals with HIV WHY Because, Americans' have seemingly forced most gay men into a box of fear and those who speak out are harassed convicted and killed I'm the gay who sued Bible pub.
harleymc
"Community" was always overhyped by the assimilationists as a way of derailing the push for liberation, revolution and even activist based reforms. "Community" is a reactionary construct and always was.
June 23, 2013