An oldie, but the opening line is just superb. ~
Getting it Straight: HIV as a Gay Disease Is a Myth That Refuses to Die
"HIV is a gay disease." This is a myth that refuses to die. Misinformation, fear, ignorance and media sensationalism continue to fuel this myth in America. For every one person like me trying to tell the truth about HIV transmission, there seems to be a dozen shrieking, simpleminded, natural-born dullards with a staggering inability to grasp reality.
HIV is not a gay disease. Nope. All of us are at risk in getting HIV from unsafe sex or other modes of blood to blood contact, like sharing needles. Television talk shows and all those fundamentalist/conservative/family values groups are chock full of flaky, clueless lightweights who made up their minds twenty years ago that HIV is a product of the so-called "gay lifestyle" and it's God's wrath on homosexuals. These poor creatures are so invested in this myth that they are incapable of hearing the truth. They continue to spew their self-righteous, delusional feculence to the detriment of all humanity. They are, in fact, shameless, insidious prevaricators driven solely by their irrational loathing and fear of homosexuality."
[...]
"The truth is that 16,000 people worldwide are infected with HIV every single day (World Health Organization). They are not all gay. In the United States, HIV infection rates have held steady at 40,000 per year, but recent preliminary data suggests those rates are on the rise. They are not all gay. African-American and Hispanic women together represent less than one-fourth of all U.S. women, but account for more than three-fourths (76%) of AIDS cases among women in this country (
CDC Update, 6/98). Women now account for 43% of all HIV infected people over the age of 15 (
New York Times, 11/98). In just over a decade, the proportion of all AIDS cases reported among adult and adolescent women tripled, from 7% in 1985 to 22% in 1997 (
CDC Update, 6/98).
Further, more than 30 million people around the world are living with HIV or AIDS, and by the year 2000 that figure will reach 40 million (UNAIDS/World Health Organization, 12/97). They are not all gay. AIDS now kills more people worldwide than any other infection, including malaria and
tuberculosis."
[...]
"Women contract HIV. Women get AIDS. So let's talk about what's going on. The female genital tract (vagina) is normally populated by a flora, helpful bacteria like those "active cultures" listed on yogurt containers. This flora (lactobacilli) produces hydrogen peroxide to kill invading organisms and lower the pH level in the vagina, making it less hospitable for foreign organisms. A loss of lactobacillli lowers the natural protective barriers and leads to an increased risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases. Recent studies conducted by the American Society of Microbiology confirm this. In a study of 144 female sex-workers in Thailand, those with loss of vaginal flora were twice as likely as those with a normal balance of vaginal organisms to contract HIV. A study of 657 female sex-workers in Kenya showed that the risk of contracting
gonorrhea rose by 78% in women with low levels of lactobacilli."
