HIV is a Big Deal
This video is part of a NYC campaign to increase HIV awareness. Talk albout dying to take a trick home. Apparently the story is told in multiple chapters, so you can follow along. In the next episode, I think "Josh" gets tested.
In the recent past a friend called me, heartbroken, to tell me about a former lover who "always practices safe sex" and is "health conscious," but contracted HIV anyway. It's hard to imagine that there was a time when men who have sex with men didn't worry about their dick exploding if they put it in the wrong hole, but that time has long passed. Sadly, many of us (who didn't go through the gay holocaust of the 80s) still think we're invincible.
In DC, 50 out of every 1,000 residents has HIV. That's 5 percent of D.C. residents, or 1 in 20. That's 11 times the national average. Based on CIA statistics, if the District were a country, it would rank 11th in the world, between Mozambique (1 in 14) and Tanzania (1 in 23).
HIV stats: 81% African American, 13% White, 5% Latino. 37% of AIDS cases in DC are obtained through homosexual acts. Wrap it up, boys.
4 comments:
There's always something misleading about these statistics. The "national average" is for other states. DC is not a state, it's a city and a "district", so comparing it to other states is inappropriate.
For a more valid comparison, you'd have to compare DC to other cities, like SF, NY or Chi-town. Using some numbers I just googled, SF has about 3.7% of their population infected...
If DC were a country, it would be the most densely populated country in the world, with the largest queer population and the most liberal. We'd also have full representative government.
Definitely consider the statistics, but also understand the comparisons.
Do you know the source for you "1 in 20" number?
HIV stats for DC are notoriously bad. Unlike other areas in the country, HIV was *not* a reportable disease in DC until a few years ago -- you could test anonymously and your name was not tracked if you test positive.
The sources I've seen in the past for this number were from testing of prison inmates, not the population at large.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112501677.html
have you guys ever heard of giftgivers and bugchasing? i first heard of it from one of my boyfriends friends who went dressed as a giftgiver for halloween (he wore short shorts and would blow dust on people to represent giving them aids.) i watched a video about it in one of my human sexuality courses and the whole thing freaks me out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugchasing_and_giftgiving
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