30 Years of AIDS

[storytimewithjoe]

As we near AIDS Walk this year, the OC Register published an article this morning on 30 Years of AIDS. And yes, I got emotional reading it. Gods, what a plague this disease has been. And even with all the advancements we’ve made, it is still far from over.

 

In reading about the history of the disease, I think what bothers me so much about it is the stigma. A disease is a horrible thing in and of itself. And it’s bad enough for the person living with the disease to deal with the effects on a daily basis, without it being compounded by condemnation or judgment from the ignorant.

 

I guess in the very early days, it almost made sense. Nobody knew what it was. Nobody knew where it came from. Nobody knew how it spread. And as a result, people reacted out of a very basic and primal sense of self-preservation that said, “Back away from… IT – the THING”. To me, the personal stories and accounts I have heard sound identical to the accounts I have read from the middle ages about the bubonic plague – how people were quarantined or cast out. We’d all love, love, LOVE to think that we are just oh-so-civilized nowadays and would never, ever, EVER do things like that in modern times. But guess what, kittens – it happened. And nobody likes to talk about it. I know one long-term survivor who was diagnosed in the 80’s. He was a celebrity back then, and a jet-setting model. Yet, when his doctor diagnosed him, the doctor backed away from him, and exited the examination room, leaving him alone, scared, and without even the slightest bit of human compassion. After all, the doctor had just given him not just a death sentence, but pulled away any sense of compassion or humanity. It happened. And while we’d like to think that it never happened, doesn’t happen, and never will – guess what? It still does.

 

Here in the U.S. – it happens. The lack of loving, decent human-compassion happened and still happens. I know of teenagers – TEENAGERS – thrown out onto the street like trash by cold and callous parents who have the audacity to invoke the Bible as a basis for their hatred and condemnation. I know of people cut off from their supposedly loving families because of a diagnosis. We shouldn’t pretend like it doesn’t happen – it does. And sadly, this country – this grand ol’ U.S. of A. has allowed this to happen. So what can we do?

 

Once again, my hubby and I will be walking at AIDS Walk on Sunday to help raise money to help. Funds from AIDS Walk go directly towards service providers who help people living with HIV who truly need it. The non-profits who receive funds are able to provide counseling, support services, transportation, case management, food, job assistance, housing opportunities, transitional services, etc. Please take a moment to visit our page…

 

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=437522&supId=322141665

 

 

Comments

[esprix.livejournal.com]

OMG I didn't know you were on LJ! :P

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

Giggle. I've been outted! :-)

[esprix.livejournal.com]

Friended. Do you post here or FB more often?

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

Both

[esprix.livejournal.com]

LJ is my primary source of communication, but I do check FB once or twice a day (of course no guarantees I'll see everything, which is one of the many reasons I despise it so).

[morrisman.livejournal.com]

I just watched the play RENT again, probably my sixth time all in different venues, this time as a well-done American Stage production in Demen's Landing, downtown St. Pete. The stigma, rejections, and breakdowns that happened just in the play should show what you're talking about, Joe. I saw the play with my girlfriend and another couple, and at the end there were three or four pairs of moist eyes among our blanket.