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TheatreGuyZ

Joined March 21, 2009

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  • 8 months, 2 weeks ago
    TheatreGuyZ's comment on:

    African-Americans now account for half of new HIV/AIDS cases in Dallas County

    Clay213,

    You're missing the point. I did not address the male to male transmission. I'm talking about male to female transmission and the "on the down low" theory.

    Here is a quote from the article:

    "Nobles also noted that HIV/AIDS has increased dramatically in recent years among black women, many of whom contract the disease from men who have gay sex on “the down low.” In 2007, for example, 81 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases were in males, but 32 percent of new cases among blacks were in females."

    This reasoning has NO BASIS in the scientific literature. A major medical publication has said that such thinking is HURTING research as to why these women are so disproportionately affected.

    I am simply tired of journalists not doing their homework and statistics being touted without citing how such data was gathered.

    For instance, the latest D.C. numbers show a 3% infection rate in that city. This has been all over the news as a huge medical emergency. What no one reports is that one year ago the District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report said the number was 1 in 20 people in D.C. - or 5%.

    see: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008...

    So why is the news not reporting the great news: that in fact, D.C. has seen a 40% drop in HIV+ rates in just one year?!

    Point is - the public needs to ask tough questions in the face of blatant discrepancies and lazy journalism - so that real answers can be found - and sick people helped.

  • 8 months, 2 weeks ago
    TheatreGuyZ's comment on:

    African-Americans now account for half of new HIV/AIDS cases in Dallas County

    Clay213 said: "I knew some commenter would find a way to blame whitey.. thanks for not letting me down!"

    If you are referring to me...my intent is to blame no one. I am simply pointing out that major medical publications and research have shown no validity whatsoever in the "on the down low" phenomenon. It is a construction that appeals to deeply racist notions of non-white sexuality.

    I am a gay white male. I teach a lot of at-risk inner city youth in Oregon. And it saddens me to hear young black students say things like: "our community is too stupid to not get AIDS." They buy into the public notion that the disparity in HIV rates is from promiscuity and closeted gay sex - but the data does not support this at all - it is anecdotal at best. As the Reuters article suggests - other causes for the high rate of HIV positivity in black Americans should be researched.

  • 8 months, 2 weeks ago
    TheatreGuyZ's comment on:

    African-Americans now account for half of new HIV/AIDS cases in Dallas County

    This article displays blatant racist and ignorant notions about minorities with regard to sexual behavior. The "on the down low" phenomenon has been researched extensively with reports published in the Annals of Epidemiology. Here are quotes from the Reuters report in 2007.

    "This assumption was mistaken in many ways, they explain. First of all, the practice of straight men secretly having sex with men is seen across all ethnic groups.

    Also, Ford notes, while black men and women have higher rates of HIV infection than other ethnic groups, they also report fewer risk behaviors, suggesting researchers should look elsewhere to understand the disparity.

    For example, she adds, having a bacterial sexually transmitted infection can increase the risk of both transmitting and contracting HIV, and it is possible such infections may be more common among blacks than whites due to poorer access to health care.

    Research has refuted the claim that black men living the down low lifestyle are driving the spread of HIV, Ford said, but the perception that this is the case remains, even in the epidemiology community. She points to a dean at a colleague's school who urged researchers to study "the down low" after seeing a TV segment on it.

    The view of black sexuality as deviant and diseased has deep roots, Ford noted, pointing to the way the public and the medical community viewed syphilis in the early 20th century as a disease of the black community."

    Here is a link to the entire article.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/health...

    This is very important, because this report was not widely reported by main stream media - and many well intentioned leaders in the black community have bought in the racist hype. But if one takes a step back, it's easy to see statistics this startling can not be explained by oversimplified social sexual stereotypes.

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