Dear Editor,
A recent letter (with headline) that claimed homosexuality
causes AIDS was wrong as it used statistics that are more than 20
years old, when the world was just STARTING to learn about
HIV/AIDS.
Dear Editor,
A recent letter (with headline) that claimed homosexuality causes AIDS was wrong as it used statistics that are more than 20 years old, when the world was just STARTING to learn about HIV/AIDS.
The year is 2005, and HIV/AIDS is NOT the “gay plague.” I urge everyone to check out the latest statistics on HIV/AIDS by the Centers for Disease Control and fight the perpetuation of HIV/AIDS myths and stigma caused by quoting misleading information from a time when the U.S. had no real idea of what caused the disease, nor its impacts on our communities as a WHOLE, not just those who are gay.
To reiterate:
• HIV/AIDS is caused by a number of high-risk behaviors. The greatest risk is sex with multiple partners, regardless of sexual orientation; also, unprotected sex with ANYONE, and intravenous drug abuse.
• The disease is transmitted through contact with infected fluids (blood, semen).
• The number of infections is highest in people who use intravenous drugs and have heterosexual contact.
• The fastest growing segment of those infected with HIV/AIDS is heterosexual women who have sexual contact with infected heterosexual men.
The South County Collaborative, a coalition of public and private organizations, has had a number of discussions on how to bring more and comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment to our cities of Gilroy, San Martin, and Morgan Hill. The very real stigma that exists in our community, evidenced by this letter, is the largest barrier to our community’s attainment of such effective long-term services. Simply put, the county will not spend scarce resources for services that people won’t access because they are afraid someone will recognize them and immediately make hurtful and WRONG inferences and ostracize them.
We can change that first by realizing that HIV/AIDS is simply a disease that can infect everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, social standing, economic status or sexual orientation.
Dina Campeau, Morgan Hill
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
