Negative Responses To NMAC's Statement On The Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis on MSM

Last week NMAC put out a statement (see below) about CDC’s data on the disproportionate impact of HIV and Syphilis on men who have sex with men (MSM), I want to share some of the negative responses we got to our statement. I think they speak for themselves. What was most troubling is that the statements were sent to us by organizations that do HIV/AIDS work. Since I don’t have their permission, I won’t release their names at this time.

Can we ever turn the tide of this epidemic in an environment where MSM face such hatred and discrimination? I am convinced that you cannot look at HIV within the MSM community and not address stigma, homophobia and fear.

Testing in and of itself is not the solution because we have to send our clients back into a world filled with fear and hate. It may change a person’s behavior in the short term, but I question it’s validity in the long term when people have to go back and live in the real world.

Below are some of the statements and attached is one of the documents that we received:

“I’m sorry, but it is hard to be sympathetic in the midst of blatant disregard to truth. AIDS has killed more men in the US than six Vietnam wars combined and 83% of all cases in the US are white homosexual men.

“The evidence [of health hazards of homosexuality] is so overwhelming that even if all moral judgments and religious biases are set aside, homosexuality—by its very nature—cannot play a part in a healthy society” (National Association for Search and Therapy of Homosexuality, September 24, 2002).

To learn more about how the Catholic Church really looks upon people with homosexual tendencies, please go to: http://couragerc.net/

Don’t these results tell you that sex between men “ain’t supposed to be?” I’m sorry, but open your eyes. “THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH EVEN IF NO ONE BELIEVES IT A LIE IS A LIE EVEN IF EVERYONE BELIEVES IT.”

Christ's peace and blessings,

I hope we can discuss both short and long term solutions. If not, we will be back in the exact same place 10 years from now wondering where we sent wrong. Only this time we will only have ourselves to blame.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Circe J. Gray Le Compte, Director of Communications
National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) * 1931 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 483-6622 ext. 309 * E-mail: communications@nmac.org * Web: http://www.nmac.org

NMAC Call to Action: Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis on MSM Demands Increased Funding, Research and Community Support

A new data analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a stark disparity in rates of HIV and syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM) relative to the rest of the U.S. population. The rate of HIV diagnoses among MSM is more than 44 times that of other men, and more than 40 times that of women. MSM syphilis infection rates are high as well; 46 times that of other men and more than 71 times that of women.

Unfortunately, these disparate rates of HIV and syphilis infection are not surprising. The AIDS community was unable to adequately educate the public about HIV/AIDS during the eight years of the Bush Administration, which emphasized abstinence-only approaches to health education, which research has demonstrated do not to work, and limited discussion of condom use in federally-funded forums. These situations, compounded with existing social and cultural stigmas around sexuality – and homosexuality in particular – helped fuel the increase in HIV and syphilis incidence in the MSM community.

To adequately address the situation, the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) recommends the following:

• Realistic Funding Levels: Reducing the impact of HIV/syphilis among MSM and stopping new infections will require increased funding. We support the recommendation from the CDC’s professional judgment budget, and ask for an increase of $877 million for federal HIV/AIDS prevention programs.

• Additional Research: The study released by the CDC addresses MSM, as identified based on behavior – whether a man surveyed engaged in sexual activity with another men within a certain time period. The study shows the need for more comprehensive research specifically on people who identify themselves as gay, bisexual and transgender, and needs to discern whether age, race, sexual practices and regional variances are factors in HIV and syphilis transmission.

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community Voices Needs to Be Included: As the federal government moves forward to address HIV in the MSM community, it is critical that they include the diverse voices of the LGBT community. We need to be at the table as an active partner to review the research, programs and prioritizing of challenges.

• Everyone Needs to Prioritize Gay Men: Everyone committed to addressing HIV/AIDS needs to prioritize gay men. This includes LGBT organizations, elected officials, social clubs, policymakers, businesses, social justice agencies, business and the general public. This is not just a problem impacting MSM; it is everyone’s problem.
  

About NMAC
The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) builds leadership within communities of color to address challenges of HIV/AIDS. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced this mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous publications and a website: http://www.nmac.org/. Today, NMAC is an association of AIDS service organizations providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the AIDS epidemic. NMAC's advocacy efforts are funded through private funders and donors only.

For more information, call NMAC directly at (202) 483-NMAC (6622) ext. 309 or communications@nmac.org. Visit the agency online at http://www.nmac.org/, as well as on http://www.facebook.com/ and on http://www.wikipedia.com/. Pictures and video clips from past NMAC events are available from MyPhotoAlbum.com (http://nmacpics.myphotoalbum.com/), and NMAC’s YouTube channel, commnmac (http://www.youtube.com/commnmac), respectively.