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WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk

Huh? How does inequality between sexes or homophobia drive the aids epidemic? While both are things I'd rather didn't exist, I'm pretty sure it's unprotected sex and promiscuity that are driving it.

Not sure about the former, but the latter could have *some* indirect connection. A good friend (happens to be gay) indicated to me some time ago that one of the biggest reasons for the continuing growth in HIV infections among gay men is that there are a number of gay men who think that the spread of HIV through sexual contact is a myth concocted by homophobic straight people who are trying to prevent gay men from having sex with one another. (I know it sounds silly, but I'm just repeating what I've been told by someone who knows better than I do.) As a result, no precautions taken, and the problem (the spread of HIV, not gay men) continues.

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"Everything that guy just said is bull$h!t! Thank you."

-- Vincent LaGuardia Gambini

That's an inaccurate and ridiculous assumption on the part of those that think that, not homophobia. Might as well say being born causes HIV.

The ignorance stuff quoted in the NZ article that I discovered I think refers to the ignorance of mostly African societies which have had some really weird attitudes to the disease. Several African nations until very recently refered to AIDS as "the thin disease" and came up with all sorts of stories about how it is contracted.

The South African government has also had some said some very bizarre public statements which have shocked the UNWHO; further illustrating the ignorance and the lack of scientifically-sound health education in those countries.

I think the more alarming figure is the UK government statistic just for the City of London.

That's a horrible figure. Philadelphia has a large number of HIV cases... but I can't imagine that the gay community here has such a high number as 1 in 10--that's really awful!

__________________
WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk

First of all, I think the thread title "1 in 10 Gay Men Have HIV" is a little infammatory and very misleading, even if the (allegedly) correct numbers are in the actual postings.

Secondly, what is the methodology that led to that figure? It does seem high, but London is both a gay center and global "fun" city, so I guess it's not impossible. I'd imagine that the didn't count a whole lot of quiet, fade-into-the-background type gays and ended up with a lower denominator.

Thirdly, KENfmt, a lot of people believe homophobia contributes to bad health decisions among gays and lesbians due to lower-self esteem and internalized negativity, which cause people not to value themselves as much. Gays also smoke and drink more than straights, by most counts.

Lastly, the goverment of South Africa, including its president, has said numerous assinine things regarding AIDS. In parallel, many blacks in America continue to believe all kinds of BS conspiracty theories: that it was engineered by the government to kill unwanted people, that drug companies are sitting on a cure, that you can get it from toilet seats or sharing spoons, and so on.

I still say that a weird correlation to draw. The cause isn't homophobia. It may be a contributing factor. But the cause is their decisions and how they deal with homophobia.

It's like saying poverty causes crime. Criminals cause crime. Poverty is a contributing factor but it doesn't CAUSE anyone to be a criminal. Just like homophobia doesn't cause HIV. It's even more removed. It may contribute to risky behavior (by those who ridiculously believe that HIV is a false conspiracy), but the risky behavior is the cause.

Homophobia leads to increased HIV infection because:

- Kids aren't educated properly about safer sex in schools, especially when it comes to homosexuality.

- There are lots of closeted guys who don't identify as gay or bi, partly due to societal pressure, who don't come into contact with the regular gay scene, and view homosexual behavior as inherently risky and necessarily hidden behavior. They often aren't educated about safer sex, and even if they are, their attitudes towards sex mean that they take greater risks than necessary. They may also have heterosexual partners who don't know about their homosexual behavior, and thus don't use protection, exacerbating the problem.

- As thunda noted above, the greater use of drugs and alcohol in the gay community leads to poor decision making with regard to risky sexual behaviors. While this can't all be attributed to negative self-esteem, the marginalization of gay men from society doesn't help in this regard.

That being said, a good deal of HIV transmission amongst gay men these days can't be put down to ignorance, poor education, or bad luck. There is an increasing amount of purposefully head-in-the-sand, risk-taking sexual behavior in the gay community. It's idiotic, but seems to be getting worse.

If you look at power inequality between the sexes, especially in third world countries, it's a massive factor in HIV infection. Heterosexual male promiscuity, and the inability of females to say "no" or to use protection during sex, are both major reasons why HIV has spread so fast.

It's really simple - keep your johnson out of holes that emit turds.

Hey buddy--newsflash, you can get it swallowing, you can get it sharing a needle with a freak, you can get it (very low chance) through a blood transfusion, and a female's bodyparts are more than capable of passing back the infection over to you.

__________________
WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk