Dec. 07, 2011 - Issue #842: Hroses

Queermonton

Forgotten populations

This year's World AIDS Day on December 1 marks 30 years since Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was diagnosed in 1981.
The ways in which societies respond to diseases reveal fundamental cultural, social and moral values. The metaphors that surrounded this emerging epidemic were fueled by the fact that the causes of AIDS were closely related to human behaviour. As HIV/AIDS can be transmitted through sex, intravenous drug use and blood transfusions, people began to associate the disease with their fear of sex, social deviance and death.
In the early 1980s scientists referred to AIDS patients as belonging to the "Four-H Club" which reflected the scientists' beliefs that AIDS only effected homosexuals, hemophiliacs, heroin addicts and Haitians. As a result of this, homophobia and racism began to define the disease. People began to believe that these groups, rather than a virus, transmitted HIV/AIDS. This ideologically laden understanding of AIDS transmission gave new meaning to sexual identities and new life to prejudices. A moral panic emerged in which people not only feared HIV/AIDS but also feared the populations of people that were thought to carry and transmit the disease.
Historian Randy Shilts contends that "The bitter truth was that AIDS did not just happen to America—it was allowed to happen by an array of institutions, all of which failed to perform their appropriate tasks to safeguard the public health." More specifically, North American governments erred on the side of public fear, racism and homophobia, and accordingly refused to protect the health of particular sexualized and raced populations. The government's failure to provide leadership in addressing the disease resulted in the death of tens of thousands of people during the 1980s and '90s. 

Over the past 30 years North American queer communities have responded to government neglect and social stigma by creating communities of care, educating each other about sexual safety, and orchestrating radical and effective political protests. These efforts are reflective of the great power, determination and will to survive that exists in our queer communities. Moreover, rates of infection have fallen since our communities began protecting and educating each other, and demanding government intervention. In the face of these decreasing rates of infection, a few people in our communities wish to sever the tie between HIV/AIDS and homosexuality as they claim that gay communities should no longer be defined by this disease.
But our community knows all too well that when particular raced or sexualized populations are stigmatized by society, it is easier for governments to turn a blind eye to their suffering. According to a 2001 Health Canada report, between 1996 and 1999 the total number of Aboriginal people in Canada with HIV increased by 91 percent. By 2006, Aboriginal people accounted for approximately nine percent of the total HIV infections, yet they represented only three percent of Canada’s population (Public Health Agency of Canada). The Harper government has failed to respond to these realities. Federal funds for HIV/AIDS research, health services and prevention have not been adjusted to deal with the reality that HIV/AIDS is on the rise among Aboriginal populations. While the federal government claims it is committed to funding programs that specifically address the needs of Aboriginal people, there is very little new money and as a result several Aboriginal AIDS organizations have already had to shut down.
North America's gay communities have been a stigmatized population whose health has been consciously ignored by the government and society. While the disease may shift among populations, we must keep caring for each other and pressuring our governments to ensure the health of all people regardless of sexuality or race. V

More stories in front »

vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus