The Check

It's sad, but oh-so-true... Texas is one of the MOST  STD-Infested States in the nation, and it isn't slowing down anytime soon.  The city of Houston also has the highest population of them in our state.  

Men's Health Magazine posted this chart on their online editorial and I thought I should share it.  Should you have any questions about getting tested, "The Check" at Planned Parenthood can help figure out if you should or not.  "There are no right or wrong answers" the site goes on to say.  Check it out here.

What a Hot F**king Mess: HIV Positive Man Purposely Infects 3,000 Men and Women

I'm sorry, but I couldn't just title this "What a Hot Mess".  This kind of thing just irks the hell out of me.  Why would someone do such a horrible and inhumane kind of thing to another human being?  I can't fathom ever finding out that I slept with someone who was dishonest with me, much less have unprotected sex with them.

David Dean Smith casually walked into a Michigan police station 3 weeks ago, and admitted sleeping with 3,000 men and women over several years.  He doesn't remember when he was diagnosed with the disease, but that he says, he "intentionally attempted to spread the disease to kill people."

So far only two people have come forward, and one of them went so far as to say that she immediately knew it was Smith who infected her.  After speaking with MSNBC, she called him a "sociopath" and a "predator".  

What else would you call him? He's a fucking monster!

AIDS - 30 Years and Counting...

It may no longer be a death sentence, but it is still a problem.  It is still a disease we haven't found a cure for.  It is still an epidemic.  If you are not playing safe, you are playing with the very people you love, the very people you call your friends and your family.  Get tested regularly.  If you got tested yesterday, do it again in a few months.

You may think that it is nowhere near you, but I advise you to take a look at this map.  You can click on it to reach the interactive version, it is the most recent statistics of HIV across the United States.  You can zoom into the county you live in, and find out how prevalent the disease is there.  The map is actually quite creative.  It was put together over a period of 14 years, and is currently being updated yearly.  The map is also searchable by gender, ethnicity, and age.  New York City and Washington D.C. are the cities most affected by the disease.  But don't discount the rest of the country, look at the entire eastern seaboard, the bible belt, through the east of Texas.

AIDSVu has created the interactive map based on 2008 data from the CDC, but as I mentioned earlier, it is being updated annually - next year they will have 2009 data, and continue yearly, thereafter.

The Promotion of Hatred Exists

Thank you so much for the blog you posted yesterday, my love. Yeah, Bryan Fischer got me really upset Tuesday night when he talked about us like a disease in need of a cure. And he continued to irritate me when he referenced us being gay, a "lifestyle".

Exercise, clothing, vacationing, and how you present yourself are a lifestyle. A monogamous or non-monogamous relationship are also considered a lifestyle or a choice, but the actual attraction and love two individuals of the same gender share is NO lifestyle, and it's definitely not a choice. This has to be taught to everyone who uses that terminology, because it's really starting to piss me off.

The other thing this guy was trying to enforce, was that we, "the gays," are the ones who brought AIDS to America. What is this, 1980? Yes, men having sex with men are still the largest group of people that get HIV, but when I pull up the CDC website, I read that gay men only account for 53%, not 91% like that bastard claimed last night.

Gay men that use injection drugs count for another 4%, Straights make up 31% and straight injection drug users make up an additional 12% as reported in 2006 by the CDC in the US. This disease "may have" begun in the gay community, and I use "may have," because it's a theory. It is not a "gay only" disease. In fact, worldwide heterosexual intercourse does make up the majority of HIV cases.

If Mr. Family Values wants to help us out with the AIDS epidemic, he should have taught us how to safely have man to man sex - He shouldn't hide and shame it back to the 1980s. Sex education isn't the only way to promote safe sex; The American people need to have proper education when it comes to being gay in this country. In the 1950's the homosexuals were labeled as "child predators," when in fact, the child predators were actually straight males or females. Granted, if you check out most of the underage twinks at the clubs who can blame them. (Cough, cough) Kidding! Then came 1969 with the stonewall riots and other displays of the GLBT community fighting for its' rights. After the era of, "We're here, we're queer, get used to it" came the 1980's and HIV/AIDS epidemic. A new fight began, not only for our rights, but for our lives as well.

I take pride in knowing that our gay community has been proactive when it comes to promoting STD awareness, and spreading the message across that having safe sex is really the most important thing in this day and age - we've come a long way since then. Unfortunately, some gay idiots think they're immortal, don't care, have a death wish - I don't know, but they don't play safe. HIV and AIDS are not a thing of the past. I tell myself that quite possibly they don't know, but with the internet and all it's glory how can you not. Despite my assumption of a non-ignorant youth, there still needs to be some sort of education. Bring back mandatory sex education classes in school that talks more about gay sex and protection versus abstinence only, and I guarantee that the HIV rates will drop. Not talking about gay and straight sex and how to protect yourself against it, is what is leading to the spread of all these STDs and the struggle to treat it.

Going back to the education of "being gay," the American society needs to know that being gay is not about being suicidal, ashamed, closeted, drugged up, dying of AIDS, a villain, a loner, or someone to feel sorry for. Show someone that is proud of who they are - that is in a loving relationship with their parents and a partner. Show the public that gay exists outside of Project Runway. That gay kids in our schools are being bullied, That while others may be strong, others need our help. Glee is educating the public in the best way possible, and because of them hopefully the American people will be even more accepting of us. Glee has helped educate the public in the best way possible, and because of them hopefully the American people will be more accepting of us. This episode, which aired on Tuesday spread a message of acceptance and self-love; And with hope, it was heard by the hundreds of bullied and suicidal teens out there - possibly saving their life.

Of course the "American Family Association" doesn't want this and they'll say anything to scare America back to the 1950's when the homosexual was the boogie man predator. The sad thing is that by promoting hate and shouting "Gay is Bad" has serious consequences. All it does is make an innocent child think they're different - like they're the worst possible thing that exists on our world. God does not promote this hatred, so SHAME ON THEM for portraying it.

Unfortunately, they and organizations like them will always be around, because someone's always got to hate. Call it religious freedom or freedom of speech, it's still hate no matter how you call it. Like the Ku Klux Klan, the AFA will one day shrink to almost nothing. Until then, things like the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, as well as other major gay civil rights accomplishments will continue to make the word GAY a less uncomfortable subject to talk about. Maybe one day we will have all our rights, including the ability to marry, and we can all thank Glee for it's positive influence on gay people. Even if Kurt is annoying at times, I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.