Ignorance

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1871

Please read the linked article.

The article, "Who's to blame for Tsunami and AIDS death, 2004?" is likely one of the most ignorant viewpoints I have ever come across regarding AIDS, homosexuality, and sexuality in general. The author argues that those who have AIDS are personally responsible for their infection, and that in order to stop the epidemic we should quarantine those "...who participate in homosexual sex, share needles in illegal drug use, and have promiscuous heterosexual sex ...".

This is nothing short of American ethnocentricity, disinformation and outright ignorance. A cursory glance at global AIDS statistics shows that AIDS is largely affecting women. The AIDS epidemic is far more serious outside of the US and in Africa where the vast majority of cases exist, and where (in some places) girls are up to 3 times more likely to contract HIV and AIDS. Quarantining gay men and "promiscuous" homosexuals in America would barely dent the AIDS epidemic. What about babies who are born with AIDS? And what about the women who are contracting AIDS through sex crimes? And what about the uneducated who aren't aware of the risks? Unprotected sex puts people at risk, not homosexual sex. AIDS as a gay disease is an outdated and ignorant idea that is perpetuated by disinformation.

This article begs many questions. Firstly, how does the author define "quarantine"? It is a euphemism, and a very obvious one at that. Quarantining AIDS patients and those at risk for becoming infected means cutting them off from the rest of the world until they die. Secondly, even if somewhere in this terribly flawed argument she could prove that AIDS patients are personally responsible for their infection, where does she plan on putting 40 million AIDS patients, plus every drug user, gay man, and sexually promiscuous person in the world?

The dissemination of disinformation regarding the AIDS epidemic has potential to do great damage. There is an overwhelming amount of ground to be covered before any noticeable improvements are made in the AIDS epidemic, and these ignorant stereotypes are moving us in the wrong direction. We need to worry about saving lives and not about passing judgments. It is imperative that we very quickly get away from the notion that AIDS is a Western gay man's disease. We have no right to judge a person based on his or her sexual orientation, and we especially have no right to blame AIDS patients for their infections. This goes beyond incorrect information; it is dangerous disinformation.