Transcript Of Reagan Era White House Press Conference

Courtesy of Joe My God:

Laughter about dead queers. At the White House. It was five long horrifying and desperate years later before Reagan finally personally addressed the AIDS epidemic, when he came out against a public prevention campaign, saying, "Let's be honest with ourselves, AIDS information can not be what some call 'value neutral.' After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don't medicine and morality teach the same lessons?" By then, tens of thousands had died.

Like I said, I hope he's rotting in Hell.

'And The Band Played On' - Reagan's Real Legacy

When the AIDS epidemic was starting in the 80s, I was too young and too sheltered from the outside world to really get the impact of what was going on.  It wasn't until much later that I was able to get a true understanding of how somber of a time it was to live in.  To have your friends, your partner, waste away and painfully die of a disease, while treated like a leper.  Often times alone.  It's disturbing to think that tens of thousands of Americans died that way, just because it was initially thought of as a "gay disease".

I highly encourage you to watch a movie called 'And the Band Played On'.  It was made in the mid 90s and it is a dramatization of the years following the initial AIDS outbreak.  It's shocking to see how the Reagan Administration dragged their feet regarding the AIDS virus.  When it came to their cooperation with the CDC, the Administration lacked funding, resources and compassion.  By the time Reagan even mentioned the word "AIDS" in public, roughly 30,000 people had already died of the virus.  It was inexcusable.  The following is the last five minutes of the film, a tribute to those that died or contacted HIV in the 80s:



I really hope that fucker is rotting in Hell.

CDC Confirms Man Contracted HIV Through Blood Transfusion

The CDC has recently confirmed that a Colorado man that was undergoing a kidney transplant contracted HIV from a blood transfusion.  The donor, a bisexual male, lied about his sexual history and was in the early stages of infection.  He was not aware that he was HIV positive.



There has been a nationwide ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men since the early '80s.  Earlier this year, the FDA decided to uphold the ban.  With this news coming from the CDC, it will likely be decades before the ban is lifted.

Study: 19% Of Gay/Bisexual Men Are HIV+

According to a study released Thursday  by the CDC, as many as 1 in 5 gay or bisexual males in urban areas are HIV positive.  The study, involving 8,153 men in 21 major U.S. cities, highlights that the fear of AIDS has waned in recent years.  The urgency of regular HIV testing seemed to especially be lacking with younger males.  The study found that 63% of infected men between the ages of 18 and 29 had no idea they were infected, compared to only 37% of those over 30.

HIV infection was more prevalent in black men than white or Hispanic men, with a 28% infected rate.  The CDC also found that blacks were less likely to know of their HIV positive status.  Only 41% of black men in the poll were aware that they were infected.

"This alarming new data provides further evidence that prevention efforts for gay men have not been adequate to meet the growing epidemic and should be dramatically scaled up," said Carl Schmid of the nonprofit AIDS Institute.

"The severity of the impact of HIV in the gay community is nothing new. What has been missing is an appropriate response by our government, at the federal, state and local levels, and the gay community itself."

The CDC recommends getting an HIV test every year.  For gay and bisexual men that have multiple partners, they suggest testing every 3 to 6 months.

On a personal note:  It's frightening to think that HIV is so widespread in the gay community in 2010.  Scarier still is the thought that more than half of those infected don't know it.  I personally had my last test about five months ago.  I've been in a monogamous relationship for the last five years.  It really gives me something to think about though if and when I start looking for another male partner.