Stop HIV stigma!

[lightningandsnow]

Check out this website: http://www.hivstigma.com/ .

Although it's geared towards gay/bi/queer men, there's really great info here for anyone.

Even today, HIV carries a lot of stigma. I was watching a clip of Dr. Phil, where a 14-year-old girl gets tested for HIV and other STD's, and he made it seem as if STD testing is only something you need if you're promiscuous, as a punishment of sorts. (I also think there's nothing wrong with having a lot of sex, as long as you're safe and smart about it.) Anyways, I thought this was a terrible image to promote. All sexually active people should get tested. People are also less likely to practice safer sex or get tested if they're not knowledgeable about it.

And I wish we had a world where people could be more open about their HIV status. Although the days of children with HIV not being allowed to go to school are (mostly) over, HIV positive people still live in fear of rejection by friends, family, and partners, even losing their jobs.

[lightningandsnow]

1. Kicking...

[fed_up_mother]

2. K&R

[psychmommy]

3. i don't think folks are being educated about it.

i have a friend in her 30's having unsafe sex. she doesn't have the fear of hiv that i do. i can't seem to get through to her. i am in my 40's and i remember the "80's. magic looks healthy and there have been medical advances so folks think they'll be ok or it won't happen to them. viagra has caused an older generation to become endangered-older dudes having risky sex and bringing it home to their partners. where are the commercials and advertisements reminding people. i think if people are educated they will be less likely to fear or reject their loved ones. if folks are educated they may be less likely to have unsafe sex. if kids are taught in school and home perhaps they will be more careful. churches and other social institutions need to be educating. jails need to educate and provide condoms. lest we forget the great losses we suffered in the "80's and the lessons that were learned.

[lightningandsnow]

4. Yes.

One thing that disturbed me recently, in the Canadian election, a local Conservative candidate send out this flyer saying that Liberals support "perks" in prisons - because of the condom distribution and tattoo programs.

It's not a friggin' perk, it's life-saving. Just because someone posessed cocaine, stole something, heck, even assaulted somebody doesn't mean they deserve to get HIV or hepatitis C.

[psychmommy]

5. i totally agree.

i pray for a different attitude about these things during the obama admin. this is a public health issue and needs to be treated as such.

[rainbow4321]

6. Suburban denial....

Part of the problem is that HIV/AIDS is still seen as an urban/minority/"high risk"/gay disease and NOT a "straight white teeenager in the suburb who's sex partner didn't use a condom" illness..or a "grandma met this guy, and they had unprotected sex because she is past childbearing age and now she is HIV+" disease.

I work in an urban facility that sees patients living with HIV/AIDS but I live in a suburban, 80% white, upper middle class community that recently was found to have the highest perentage of newly diagnosed HIV cases in our metroplex area. I can tell you from living in this area for 20 years, it is the last thing on parents minds around here, and most likely the kids' minds, either
My daughter asked to go on the pill a while back...I chose not to take her to the doc for that. My reasoning, which some may not agree with here, is if a guy hears she is "on the pill" he may be less likely to use a condom for protection. That, but mainly because my daughter is so bad about taking pills on a regular basis (i.e antibotics when she needs them, etc..) without me standing over her and reminding her, the odds of her taking the Pill the way she should are slim to none. Somewhere down in her room she has a stash of condoms.
My urban hospital has started a program in which EVERY patient that comes thru our ER will be tested using an oral swab test for HIV...EVERYone, no matter what initially brought them to the ER in the first place. You get the results in 20 minutes. I'm wondering how much of an increase in our HIV/AIDS unit we will see as a result of this new testing and referral system.

I only wish our suburban hospitals would implement the same plan in their ER's. But their "denial" will no doubt keep them from doing that.

[lightningandsnow]

8. Exactly.

And it's great that you're such an advocate for HIV awareness!

[Gwendolyn]

7. We can blame the "abstinence only" policy for a lot of misinformation or simply the lack of it.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

9. Dr. Phil is a conservative ass

I think this the day that people can be open about HIV status is coming. Just 20 years ago people were afraid to tell others they had cancer. They called it "C" and said the word in a whisper. People acted like they could "catch" cancer if they said the word outloud. I do find it sad that some people still judge those with HIV. The more people who come out and talk about having it, he more it will be accepted into main stream society. Do you remember when Betty Ford opened her clinic and talked about her addiction? She paved the way for others to do so, slowly. Nancy Brinker created the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and before long, there was less stigma to having breast cancer. There's more talk about HPV and sexually transmitted diseases, so I can only conclude that HIV will also be less of a stigma.
Everything seems to happen slower for those in the LGBT community or those perceived to be. Even though HIV isn't a gay disease, some people still equate it that way. I bet if HIV began primarily in the white middle class population rather than Haitians and gays, there would be less a stigma.

[EFerrari]

10. K&R

Thanks, AspieGrrl.