It's been a little over three decades
since HIV/AIDS was first discovered in the early 80s and we've come a
long way on many fronts.
From the very start, blame for the
virus was assigned to the gay community. Initially labeled Gay
Related Immune Disease (GRID), many saw HIV as a sign of, or
punishment for, what they considered immoral behavior. To a society
characterized by explicit homophobia, the gaunt, drawn faces of AIDS
victims were the gay community's scarlet letter, a public sign of
their transgression. And for the gay community, watching their
friends and loved ones fall before the feet of this great plague, HIV
became a rallying cry for the LGBT movement.
Fast forward to 2014. Marriage equality
passed in Maine by popular vote. The Defense of Marriage Act has been
crippled. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in many
states throughout the nation enjoy protections from many forms of
discrimination. HIV has fallen from the spotlight in the wake of
increasingly effective treatments.
While HIV is still frequently
considered a 'gay disease', it does not often bear the physical stamp
of a wasting disease that it once did. In part as a result of this,
the disease has slipped from the public eye. Meanwhile efforts to
shift the narrative have helped to defray the stigma that continues
to surround the virus.
The 'medicalization' of HIV has
increasingly helped move the public discourse around HIV from one of
moral indecency to one of biological illness. This has the potential
to reduce the malleable stigma that people living with HIV continue
to face today. But it's important that while redefining HIV as a
biomedical issue, we recognize that the disease, and the
disproportionate toll it has taken on the gay community, is a symptom
of something far deeper, something enmeshed in the very fabric of our
society: marginalization. In short, HIV is not JUST a medical issue,
it is a social justice issue as well.
To this day, HIV is felt most
poignantly by the gay community, and gay men of color in particular.
The disparate spread of the disease is a symptom of continued and
historical stigma and discrimination, leveled against the gay
community. Less explicit now, but present nonetheless. Present in
loaded silences, judging looks, off hand remarks and subtle
rejection. Present in the disproportionate incidence of bullying and
harassment, of depression and suicive, and of HIV.
The epidemic of HIV within the gay
community is stigma made flesh. Stigma etched into the very cells of
the bodies that have borne its weight. And while those bodies may no
longer waste from AIDS as they once did, their numbers continue to
grow. They face a double stigma, both due to their sexual orientation
as well as their HIV status. They face a lifetime of grueling
treatment. They face rapid aging and cognitive decline.
The disproportionate spread of HIV
within the gay community is a social injustice. One that requires the
full weight of the LGBT movement and advocates for equality to
redress. In honor of Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ponder this,
and pledge yourself to ending HIV. Join the Down East AIDS Network
and many others in combatting stigma and discrimination; in fighting
for social justice; in realizing the end of HIV.
Kenney Miller
Executive Director
Down East AIDS Network
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