MS 190: Authorship is the course website for the Fall 2006 Media Studies senior seminar at Pomona College in Claremont, California.
"HIV is a gay disease"?
Submitted by ghostwriter on 1 October 2006 - 6:52pm.
So I was reading this article today online about the LA Gay and Lesbian Center's new ad campaign to fight the spread of HIV. Basically, the ads say "HIV is a gay disease. Own it. End it." The goal is to target apathetic gay men, which I think is valid, but the way they're going about seems seriously flawed to me. "HIV/AIDS is a gay disease" is a stereotype that the queer community has been fighting against since the disease was discovered. It has been used as a justification for homophobia. I don't think that using language that comes out of a tradition of homophobic rhetoric is the wrong way to go. It also glosses over the ever increasing numbers of black women with AIDS today. There has to be a better way to raise awareness about HIV, for gay men and for everyone.
You can check out the story here:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/09/093006calhiv.htm
»
- ghostwriter's blog
- Login to post comments
i agree. i like what they're
i agree. i like what they're trying to do, but i think the language used isnt helpful or repectful
agreed
I do understand what they're trying to do, but there must be a better way. It does both reinforce homophobic beliefes and completely ignore all the other populations with AIDS. I wish people would just realize that AIDS is everyone's problem, regardless of sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic class, etc. It's a world problem and it's time we started dealing with it as such.