tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post2724690882654099660..comments2023-10-15T10:32:17.331+01:00Comments on Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: world AIDS day - why I never wore a ribbonFrugal Dougalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-24709838080211126632009-12-06T02:54:02.920+00:002009-12-06T02:54:02.920+00:00I've been a bit thick - I've just realised...I've been a bit thick - I've just realised what you meant - the phrase "'gay plague' tag". What I should have explained was that over here there was some real hysteria over here about HIV, and the words "gay plague" were used several times, and some media went so far as to present AIDS as an illness that couldn't be caught by heterosexuals. I'm not into excusing the behaviour of many gay people, but as you indicated in your comment, an amount of compassion is expected of us. What was also in my mind - although I decided not to refer to it - was that in the early 1980s there was an explosion of HIV in female sex-workers in Edinburgh (mostly intravenous drug-users), or at least a dramatic improvement in testing sex-workers for it. Again, I'm not excusing prostitution or drug-use, but if we can get some of these folk off drugs and into mainstream society, society has to bear the burdens of diseases they contract while living their "alternative" lifestyle. <br /><br />But I'm not into making my friends feel troubled - I've changed the wording slightly.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-6849477555137639062009-12-06T02:18:51.023+00:002009-12-06T02:18:51.023+00:00oh, it didn't bother me that you posted the ta...oh, it didn't bother me that you posted the tag, the words themselves on the tag are what stuck me. <br />just to clear that up. I appreciate your point. <br /><br />Thanks.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05290534151500649637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-71872248690656889082009-12-06T01:25:56.787+00:002009-12-06T01:25:56.787+00:00Linda, I agree with what you're saying. The p...Linda, I agree with what you're saying. The point I was trying to make was that now that more irresponsible sectors of the British press have stopped pushing the "gay plague" angle about HIV/AIDS, pressure-groups for gay people seem to have taken ownership of the common-sense notion that, as you said to your friend, the behaviour of gay people, predominantly gay men, is responsible for acquiring HIV. I'm in possession of a booklet from the Terrence Higgins Trust for gay people setting out the how and why of how homosexual sex puts gay men at risk of HIV, but it's so explicit I couldn't quote from it.<br /><br />I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I hope his sad death gave his peers cause to think.<br /><br />Baludec - welcom to the Draughty Old Fen. Thank you both for your comments!Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-431328192860984842009-12-05T02:34:01.738+00:002009-12-05T02:34:01.738+00:00Good topic, useful discussion. Nice blog, good vid...Good topic, useful discussion. Nice blog, good video. I am agree with you. Thanks for sharing.baludec5http://www.deals365.usnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-59867657308864808752009-12-04T15:01:10.226+00:002009-12-04T15:01:10.226+00:00hhmmm.. you picked a hot topic. The death of a ...hhmmm.. you picked a hot topic. The death of a 'gay' friend, who died from aids, is what brought us to TX from AL. (while visiting T's home town for the funeral the week after his reception of teaching degree, he aquired a few interviews and was hired.. next thing I knew we were packing..) Anyway, that tag about the disproportionate number of cases bothers me in this topic. The message seems to imply that it "happens to them" more. That is the same thinking behind abortion-- that pregnancy is something that "happens to a person". (obviously, in the case of rape, both can "happen" to a woman)<br />Aids is not something like swine flu that you can catch by being in the grocery store at the wrong time. It is a direct consequence of behavior- in most cases, ilicit behavior. <br />I remember talking with our friend before he died. He was suffering from the affects of the disease, and I was quite candid with my opinion as he compared numbers to numbers, (along with research and funding), ie cancer, and other diseases. I looked him right in the eye and told him that HIS disease was a direct result of his chosen behavior; it was not something he 'caught' and not something that 'happened' to him, unlike breast cancer who attacks women without warning and without cause. I do not mean to imply that he deserved it, but that by participating in a behavior that was known to spread a deadly disease, he should not then turn to others and say, "fix this problem".Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05290534151500649637noreply@blogger.com