The idea of premarital sexual intercourse became less and less of a rigid standard during the mid 20th century. New cures and antibiotics were being discovered to cure sexually transmitted diseases. A societal transformation encouraged a new view of sex – “the sexual revolution, feminism, and the beginning of the gay and lesbian movement” were calling for a more sexually active America (Allen 121). Contraceptions, birth control, and ideas of safe sex liberated the sexual movement; sex became “fun” rather than just a means of reproduction. With this freedom came consequences: accidental pregnancy, disease, and the deadly virus, HIV.
The emergence of AIDS and HIV became associated with the identification of gay men. This sexually transmitted disease stigmatized the associated groups; outcasting and disgracing those unfortunate enough to get AIDS and HIV. During the mid to late 20th century, AIDS and HIV brought out societies hesitant ability to talk about issues relating to sex. It became the forefront to the other battles associated with sexual identity and health fighting for acceptance in America. Unfortunately, people like Cardinal O’Connor, Reverend Jerry Falwell, and other church associates blamed homosexuality and people’s sins as the reason for the spread of the virus; calling it “God’s cure to homosexuality.” Statements like “Do it and Die” led society to thoughts of guilt, anxiety, and fear concerning sexual activity effecting the entirety of the nation (Allen 122).
The stigma turned to taboo when President Reagan and his administration refused to acknowledge the growing AIDS and HIV epidemic. Rather than finding safer ways of performing sexual activities without transmitting the disease, the administration stayed silent. Silence only aided the spread. The atmosphere regarding AIDS became only more and more hostile. Only in the gay community did AIDS awareness appear in the early 80’s – “In 1981, activist Larry Kramer founded an organization in New York known as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, now the nation’s largest AIDS organization, and later, a more radical group called ACT-UP (The AID’s coalition to Unleash Power) (Allen 126). These organizations warned people of the dangers of HIV and persuaded them to practice safe ways to enjoy activities virus-free.
Eventually, enough people became to acknowledge the virus as a sexually transmitted disease with the ability to affect any member of the community. The church revoked its statement that AIDS and HIV were God’s punishment among sinners. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop followed Reagan’s policy of silence until October 22, 1986. He published a statement endorsing abstinence “but was not shy about explaining that AIDS could be transmitted by anal, oral, or vaginal sex- and that transmission could be prevented by the proper use of condoms” (Allen 130). Once the message was out in public, the front only gained more movement. Movie stars began to endorse the message of AIDS awareness. Bono began the message of “Red” associating its image with several popular American brands and products. Now the message is taught to every child in a sexual education class or in the real world. Forms silence to total awareness, the AIDS movement has made a total transformation. Now the only thing is to hope that people take in the message, prevent the spread, and cure those who are infected.
Allen, Peter L. The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, past and present. Chicago: university of Chicago, 2000. Print.
I agree that silence is an ineffective way to combat a disease such as AIDS. The US has come a long way with the social treatment of AIDS but affected individuals in other countries are still fighting to battle stigmas. This is one of the main reasons the homosexuality is banned in countries in Africa. Even Ghana which is considered one of the most stable countries in Africa still outlaws the behavior. Keeping sexuality as a taboo topic can be dangerous for the many reason you discuss in your post. The United States and other developed, free nations who strive to promote freedom across the world ought to place pressures on governments that repress sexual freedoms. This would also allow the people of those countries to enjoy the right to behave the way they want to and would promote the use of safe sex for all types of sexual behaviors.
As you mention in your post and we discussed in our class, doctors should be a lot more careful when analyzing and making announcements about a new disease/outbreaks. Although AIDS can infect anybody, but just because the majority of the first AIDS patients were homosexual males, it is still considered as gay disease in many parts of the world. I think it is quite similar to the case of swine flu.
The disease was called swine flu, because the virus that was making people sick was a mutated form (through very rare chance) of the influenza that only infects pigs. The way of getting infected with ‘swine flu’ was through another human being that had the mutated version of the original swine flu. Although there was no way of becoming infected by swine flu by eating cooked pork (you never eat rare pork anyways and still the original flu in pigs cannot infect people), many people stopped consuming pork, causing serious impact on pork industry. They later started using ‘H1N1 virus’ instead of swine flu, but the original impression of the disease still remains in many people.
So, because of their immense influence to many people, good doctors should rethink before spreading the word.
Merstar: In your post you say “Now the message is taught to every child in a sexual education class or in the real world” in reference to AIDS awareness, but I wonder if that is actually true? While I think public campaigns to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS have increased exponentially over the last thirty years, I am left wondering why there are communities here in Atlanta (I am thinking specifically of African American communities) where HIV + is on the rise. What must we do alongside a broad based education campaign to help diminish the numbers of new cases of HIV infection?