It wasn’t that long ago that the gay male community had a full-scale epidemic on their hands. HIV and AIDS were running rampant, debilitating and killing us by the thousands. At first, the powers that were seemed to turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering of these unfortunate souls, and it took the courageous efforts of many truly exceptional gays and straights alike to help fight for those who didn’t have the strength to fight for themselves. Thanks to them, terrific advancements were made with regard to treatment, education, and prevention. Thanks to them, we no longer have to have that dark shadow looming over our neighborhoods and communities anymore. HIV isn’t a death sentence anymore. Better yet, we know how to take steps to prevent transmission altogether.
So why the fuck aren’t we?
HIV infection rates have been on the rise for the past five years, with young gay men accounting for one of the highest percentages of new infections. You’d think that, given this sort of new information, we’d start getting our shit back together, right? Wrong. According to the CDC, 20% more gay men have admitted to having unprotected gay sex in 2011 when compared to 2005. Of the gay men who participated in that survey, only 67% had any sort of test done in the past 12 months. Worse yet, with the advent of hookup apps/sites like Grindr, Adam4Adam, ManHunt, Scruff, Jackd, etc., high risk sexual behavior is becoming increasingly popular. Nearly 50% of guys who use such sites/apps engage in barebacking. To make matters even worse, scientists have just found a brand new strain of HIV that’s more aggressive than ever before.
Here’s the thing: the first AIDS epidemic was not that long ago. There are plenty people who saw it happen who are still alive today. Hell, I still remember being a little kid and seeing PSA’s about AIDS air on Nickelodeon, and asking my parents what they were talking about. So why do we have selective memory all of a sudden? I understand wanting to leave the ugly past behind, but we still need to learn from our mistakes, and you don’t have to witness history firsthand to learn from it. I wasn’t alive during the Holocaust, but I still understand that it was bad, that it still happened anyway, and that we need to do whatever we can to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Even if HIV isn’t a death sentence anymore, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a gigantic pain in the ass for a multitude of reasons…the first of which is a significantly shorter life span.
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