To tell or not to tell: The HIV dilemma
There has been a relatively high-profile court case in Ontario involving an HIV-positive man who did not disclose his status to his sexual partners, and subsequently two ex-partners have died of AIDS-related cancers and seven women have tested HIV-positive.
He was found guilty.
Yet the debate rages about disclosure. I believe one should disclose their HIV status before they engage in a physical/sexual relationship with a new partner. I think that's pretty simple. The same as one should disclose any STD before engaging in sexual contact. Yes, there can be stigma attached to it. Sky Gilbert, a writer and gay rights activist says, "For gay men, the most compelling argument against the criminalization of HIV is the propensity of those who hate us to use AIDS fear as a weapon against our civil liberties." Yes, there is the possibility that AIDS could potentially be used as a weapon to hinder the civil liberties of those that are HIV-positive. I have cycled to Montreal five times in support of PWA Toronto, and count several friends amongst the HIV/AIDS positive population. While HIV/AIDS is not a gay disease, numbers suggest that infection rates are back on the rise after going down for several years.
Phillip Berger, a long-time "AIDS" doctor, says this, "I think people who deliberately, deceitfully and maliciously mislead people are not different from someone taking a gun and shooting them. They should be held accountable, not go to therapy somewhere."
Brian Cornelson, a doctor at St. Michael's in Toronto, and someone that I've ridden to Montreal in support of PWA Toronto (People living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto) says this, "What I tell my patients is that people who are positive have 100-per-cent responsibility to not infect others, and people who are negative have 100-per-cent responsibility not to infect themselves. If everybody took that stance, we wouldn't have any HIV transmission."
It's not about stigma. It's about not transmitting the disease. If you've had unprotected sex, get tested. It's better to know then to continue to spread the disease. MOST IMPORTANTLY, HIV/AIDS is treatable, and the sooner treatment begins, the better things will be.
I, like Michael Leshner, a long-time gay activist (he and his partner were the first gay couple to be married in Canada!), feel the onus is on those that are HIV-positive to do the right thing. "The ads give people with HIV/IADS a moral pass to infect. Whenever you define a person or a group as victims, the danger is that you excuse away their conduct. It's as if they have no responsibilities to themselves or others."
I encourage "you" to talk amongst your friends, talk here, but please be civil and respectful of differing opinions. I'm interested to hear other opinions.
(this post was inspired by long-standing debate and an article today in the Globe & Mail by Margaret Wente.)
He was found guilty.
Yet the debate rages about disclosure. I believe one should disclose their HIV status before they engage in a physical/sexual relationship with a new partner. I think that's pretty simple. The same as one should disclose any STD before engaging in sexual contact. Yes, there can be stigma attached to it. Sky Gilbert, a writer and gay rights activist says, "For gay men, the most compelling argument against the criminalization of HIV is the propensity of those who hate us to use AIDS fear as a weapon against our civil liberties." Yes, there is the possibility that AIDS could potentially be used as a weapon to hinder the civil liberties of those that are HIV-positive. I have cycled to Montreal five times in support of PWA Toronto, and count several friends amongst the HIV/AIDS positive population. While HIV/AIDS is not a gay disease, numbers suggest that infection rates are back on the rise after going down for several years.
Phillip Berger, a long-time "AIDS" doctor, says this, "I think people who deliberately, deceitfully and maliciously mislead people are not different from someone taking a gun and shooting them. They should be held accountable, not go to therapy somewhere."
Brian Cornelson, a doctor at St. Michael's in Toronto, and someone that I've ridden to Montreal in support of PWA Toronto (People living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto) says this, "What I tell my patients is that people who are positive have 100-per-cent responsibility to not infect others, and people who are negative have 100-per-cent responsibility not to infect themselves. If everybody took that stance, we wouldn't have any HIV transmission."
It's not about stigma. It's about not transmitting the disease. If you've had unprotected sex, get tested. It's better to know then to continue to spread the disease. MOST IMPORTANTLY, HIV/AIDS is treatable, and the sooner treatment begins, the better things will be.
I, like Michael Leshner, a long-time gay activist (he and his partner were the first gay couple to be married in Canada!), feel the onus is on those that are HIV-positive to do the right thing. "The ads give people with HIV/IADS a moral pass to infect. Whenever you define a person or a group as victims, the danger is that you excuse away their conduct. It's as if they have no responsibilities to themselves or others."
I encourage "you" to talk amongst your friends, talk here, but please be civil and respectful of differing opinions. I'm interested to hear other opinions.
(this post was inspired by long-standing debate and an article today in the Globe & Mail by Margaret Wente.)