Stigma Free

Technically my obligation to blog is done with the end of class. I seem to have gotten a taste for it though, so expect a random post now and then.

Situation: I was at work yesterday and I was conversing with a friend and she was complaining about the fact that her friend kept bombarding her with facts about homosexuals. He has recently "come out" so he likes talking about his sexuality, not necessarily about sex, but just about gays and the culture. Cool, whatever. I mentioned how I was on Gay.com the day before and a profile question (in addition to age, height, etc) was the question "HIV status." That really just upset me because of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and the fact that it is primarily gay men who are infected with the disease.

I thought my friend would share some of my indignation (I don't know why, maybe I was just hoping?) and all she said was how her friend told her that it was primarily white heterosexual women who were infected and transmitting the disease.

Her logic to that was because gay men "can't make up their frickin' mind" and decide who to have sex with and the only reason that women are infected with HIV/AIDS at all was because...well...I won't quote her on this one but I'll leave it with you that it had something to do with bestiality and monkeys. I'm sure you can piece it together from there.

This infuriated me.

It's not ONLY gay men who have HIV/AIDS.

They didn't get it from having sex with monkeys. (Yes, it is arguable that the disease came from monkeys in Africa because they have a similar disease however it is waaaaaay more likely they got it because they were hunting and ate the meat from an infected monkey or they were hunting, had a cut, and some of the infected primate blood entered into the hunters system.)

HIV-2 for example corresponds to SIVsm, a strain of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus found in the sooty mangabey (also known as the green monkey), which is indigenous to western Africa.

One of the highest "groups" in Canada who are infected with HIV/AIDS are Aboriginals. This is primarily due to a lack of health care (for testing and treatment), drug use (transmitted through needles), and poverty.

After reading 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa (an amazing book) I learned more about people who become infected with HIV/AIDS and how it happened.

It's not just the gay men who are infected...

... it's the mother of 3 who's husband was unfaithful
... it's the couple who had unprotected sex
... it's the child who's mother was infected and she didn't know
... it's the child who's mother was infected and she knew but couldn't afford the necessary medication to prevent the transmission to her child
... it's the man who always had protected sex but when he and his friend were violently attacked one day he carried his friend's bleeding body to safety and, unbeknownst to him, his friend was infected and some of the infected blood got into his own wounds and he contracted the disease

If you are not infected by HIV/AIDS you are affected by HIV/AIDS.

This disease is all around us but remains invisible because most of the people who have it are across the ocean, are receiving medication (anti-retrovirals or ARV), or are suffering in silence because of the treatment they will receive from their peers and society. Their obituaries will not read "so and so passed away from HIV/AIDS." They will read "pulmonary infection," "cancer," or "tuberculosis." In developing countries especially, it won't even be realized that the cause of death was related to HIV/AIDS.

We are affected by HIV/AIDS because a generation of people, of human beings who's lives are just as valuable and real as yours or mine, are dying because we chose not to help. We chose to be silent. We chose not to give foreign aid. We chose profits from drug companies over progress in health care availability.

Religion also plays a part in this mess. Abstinence only education discourages pre-marital sex. As a result there is no discussion about protection for those who choose to engage in pre-marital sex. This is a lack of information that can cause serious consequences. Also, religious groups are the ones who most often fund HIV/AIDS prevention programs overseas. And when they only way people can receive funding is by promoting "don't have sex" instead of "refrain from risky sexual behaviour" that adds to the issue as well.

Stigmas are what hold progress back. If there is a stigma that HIV/AIDS only affects homosexuals then there will not be a broadened education about how to prevent transmission. People will continue to be discriminated against unjustly. Funding will never appear. And many, many millions more will have their lives cut short and live a painful existence.

Education is the only vaccine. Be HIV free. And be stigma free.

With eyes wide open

Yesterday, December 1st, was World AIDS Day. I was planning on doing a big post but time escaped me so we'll have to settle for one today.

I went to a World AIDS Day Gala Dinner at the University yesterday. It was hosted by WUSC (World University Services Canada), EWB (Engineers Without Borders), FAIR (Friends Aiding International Relief), and the Womyn's Centre. There were some displays on HIV/AIDS, a silent auction, and some pretty good food.

The keynote speaker was Andy. I forget his last name and I can't find it on the website. He was from the Masai Centre, located in Guelph, Ontario.

The Masai Centre is a community-based outpatient clinic offering holistic and compassionate care and treatment for those living with HIV/AIDS in Wellington-Dufferin, Grey-Bruce and Waterloo Region. They also have a connection with AIDS in Africa, especially in Lesotho. This is manifested with their Bracelets of Hope campaign.

In the spring of 2006 U Guelph launched its own campaign to support the Masai for Africa Project by making a commitment to raise $100,000 as their contribution to the $1 million goal. A cooperative of South African women was hired to make red and white beaded bracelets which were shipped to the University of Guelph and distributed on campus for a donation of $5.

One African woman can make 50 bracelets each day which earns her enough income to feed her children and the orphans in her care for two months and keeps these children in school for the same period of time. Canadians who purchase this bracelet help these women sustain their families and their communities while contributing to the Masai for Africa Project in its efforts to sustain and build HIV clinics in Lesotho and South Africa.

Andy talked a lot about the Bracelets of Hope campaign. It's estimated that if every Canadian were to wear (and purchase) 2 bracelets AIDS in Lesotho could be eradicated.

Andy hadn't always been involved in AIDS in Africa. He used to work in computers but he went to Africa and it changed his life. One thing he said in particular about AIDS struck me:

"I disregarded it because I could."

As shocking as that says it is completely true. We can flip the page, close the browser window, or shut off the TV. We have the luxury of worrying about other problems like school, what to wear, relationships and not about whether or not we will survive to see tomorrow.

Ignorance should never be an excuse. Knowledge really is power.

Find something you're passionate about and learn about it. And tell others what you are learning. Be change. Have a positive effect. Whether it's with poverty, environmental issues, equal rights, tougher regulations for copyright in media...anything. Find your passion and make a difference. There are lots of issues to choose from and many ways we can make a difference.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

- Anne Frank