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thoughtful post. thank you. i am an admirer of your work. i wonder if it would be possible to reprint this post in the next edition of our local poz newsletter- (coming out in september)? full credit would be given to you, of course. rr
Dear Peter: The CDC stats you wrote about in the above post are - and need to be - an important reminder of how HIV/AIDs continues to affect a growing population. We are writing from WITNESS, a human rights organization that uses video and online technologies to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations (learn more about us here: www.witness.org). We are reaching out to you because you are a part of the blogosphere actively sharing your thoughts/ insights and information about HIV/ AIDS. Our latest initiative called the Hub (http://hub.witness.org), a participatory website for human rights media and action, will be focusing on the issue of HIV/AIDS during the AIDS2008 conference in Mexico City, Aug 3-8, 2008. We are writing to see if you might participate in any of the following ways: - Providing us with a guest blog: Preferably with a video, photographic or audio component, for posting on our blog (http://hub.witness.org/en/blog). As the focus of our work is addressing issues through a human rights framework, we would highlight any strong human rights-related posts that you create. (We are open to a wide variety of video types, including those that use humor, animation, or audio/ visual slide shows, etc.) - Embedding media from the Hub onto your blog: We have some existing HIV/AIDS-related video already on the Hub, which you are free to embed on your blog before then. To see HIV/AIDS-related media, check-out our spotlighted media at http://hub.witness.org/AIDS08Group - Join the Hub: We'd like invite you to join the Hub community - a rapidly growing community using video to create change - to feature your blogs and work. Traffic to the Hub has been growing regularly - the 1,200+ human rights-related media on the Hub have been seen over 5 million times and we have had nearly 25 million hits since our launch in December 2007. Lastly, some of the WITNESS staff will be attending AIDS2008 - please let us know if you or any of your colleagues are going to be there - we'd like to meet you. To learn more about WITNESS, the Hub and our efforts at AIDS2008, please visit http://hub.witness.org/AIDS08. Please be in touch with any questions. Sincerely, Sam Gregory Program Director & Bukeni Waruzi Program Coordinator for Africa & the Middle East WITNESS | www.witness.org The Hub | hub.witness.org
List of other Outrages the Media is ignoring. You should be pissed at the media,it is their responsibility to make the public aware of problems such as rising HIV rate among gays. The media is not celebrating the fact that W has done more for HIV among Africans and Africa than any person in History,according to Bob Geldork. I think it is a disgrace if we are spending one dollar in Africa if US citizens are not getting appropriate education and treatment for HIV. Maybe we should pay people to have safe sex? 1.Congress and Dems refusal to drill for more oil on US property,which would immediately lower price of oil and strengthen the dollar. 2.Ws bait and switch in Iraq. Went in looking for WMD and ended up nation building. 3.Dems and Reps support of man made global warming in attempt to get votes from the uneducated. Global temps have been in a downturn since 1998 and the five highest temp years of last 120 years were before 1910. 4.We have a candidate for President who spent the last 20 years in a church that preached hate,racism, and an anti american doctrine. I wonder what that church thinks of gays? Can you imagine the media outrage if this guy was a republican or Mormon? 5.Barney Frank,Chris Dodd,and Franklin Raines looting and destruction of Fannie Mae and the resulting financial crisis. 6.Democratic attempts to aid enemy in Iraq and the medias failure to report it and failure to report success in Iraq. 7.The Republican candidate for President was part of the Keating 5(only rep involved). He trashed the first amendment with his Camp Finance bill to protect him from criticism when running for Pres. He is no different than Obama or Hillary,he will do anything or say anything to get elected. We have no idea what he really believes. These are just a few of the outrages I can think of that arent being reported on by the US media.
A thought experiment... the strategy of "Let's get tested TOGETHER BEFORE we have sex, for A VARIETY of STDs." A sexual health checkup reduces ambiguity and can be like anything else potential sex partners might do together.
If you look at the CDC figures, it seems this could well be an increase in Black (as we say over here, African-American do you say over there? CDC says "Black, non-Hispanic") young gay men. Will the A+F generation of employed, insured gay men gonna put in the pockets and contribute? And pressure gay lobby groups to make HIV among young, Black gay men an issue?? And put these young men in the driving seat? Or not? Cos from this side of the pond federal or state dollars for a worthwhile prevention initiative seems an unlikely proposition. And young guy's gonna listen to some old queers telling them what to do eh?
I'm talking here as US foreigner, but also as someone who not so long ago (I'm 29) was in that age group. There are a couple of reasons that are bound to influence the perception young gay men have of HIV and that didn't exist 10 years ago: - HIV is no longer perceived as a deadly disease, but rather as a chronic condition, due to the appearance of HART. - Young gay men usually have never had any HIV or AIDS impact in their social circle. (I'm 29 and had never knowingly met a pozzie myself til my diagnosis). That means that young gay people are specially prone to underestimate both the prevalence of HIV and its effects in one's health. That's why prevention campaigns, be them public or privately funded, are much more important now, we need them to compensate for those new factors. I've read some studies about HIV epidemiology in my country, Spain, and it seems we have exactly the same trend as the US: HIV infections among MSM is the category of infection that has the least favorable evolution; and HIV infections among MSM are specially high in the younger groups, who report more risk practices. It seems clear to me that something needs to be done.
Thanks for this information, sickening and scary as it is. Two years ago, A friend and I took it upon ourselves to talk to a group of gay teens, ages 13-21. Over 100 showed up, so there was an interest and a need for information. I told them that HIV was a disease that you do not want to have. It seemed to go well, as several went to get test soon after. Why am I having to this? I am not an educator, I am not affiliated with n ASO. I"m just a regular guy wanting to tell my story and help my community in a small way. I think the problem is a serious lack of education. There is no leadership, no consistant education program. I mean can anyone name one program directed to teens? I will pick up the phone and do my speech again. I urge anyone in here that is HIV+ to just find a group in your community and go tell them your story. You will be amazed at the amount of questions you will get asked. Believe me, kids are starved to learn more. There just seems to be a serious lack of a forum to give them the chance to learn, and get involved and ask questions. If we wait until the election, and Washing, hell!! Thousands more will get infected. Until then, a grass roots effort can help. I have seen the results. Every little bit helps. It just takes a little effort on our parts. You will be amazed how great the feeling is when you give back to your community. It is so amazing. You'll see. Trust me and give it a try. Thanks Peter. This sad and tragic information will get me off my ass and start to work on the problem again. Just think how much good if just one person in each state, and each country, could donate one night to a group of teenagers, who are all starved for information in how to protect themselves. Everyone wins. It beats bitching about life and doing nothing, after all!
Mark
Our outrage is masked by self-loathing... http://www.thenewgay.net/2008/09/approximate-living.html
September 14, 2008