Thirty years ago when the AIDS pandemic was in its infancy, as far as we knew, even though it would be discovered to have already been in the general population, at the time it was comforting for many that they could believe it was only affecting Gay men and Haitians. The fact that on the continent of Africa the virus, which would be determined to be HIV, affected men and women of all sexual orientations, didn’t seem to influence the general thinking, especially when politicians joined with religious right leaders and utilized the “punishment from God for being Gay” approach to have an identifiable target to get votes and donations, and the general population could feel comfortable believing it was only “them” not us who got it.

“They” were easy to dismiss. “They” could be put aside to die, and then the rest of the population would not have to deal with Gay people. There was even talk in California of rebuilding and  the World War II Japanese-American internment camps to gather up all those who tested positive and send them there to live out the rest of their lives with no contact with friends or family. Those who demanded they be allowed to visit would not have been permitted to leave as, preferring rumor over science, many who supported the plan held to the belief that the virus could be spread by touch or through simply breathing the same air as someone with AIDS meaning anyone leaving could spread the virus throughout the general population.

I was living in Southern California at this time, and know first hand how frightening this prospect was for many people there at the time. If I had been Positive, that would have meant that the last time I would have seen my family would have been at the last Christmas I had visited them on the East Coast, and I would never be allowed to see them again, or they me.

Even as the rest of society recognized that AIDS was something that affected everyone regardless of sexual orientation, in an effort to hold on to some remnant of separation, the most insulting and dismissive terminology came into use when  heterosexual people diagnoses with HIV were referred to as “innocent victims” implying that as Gay men deserved and worked for it, straight people had it forced on them by “the Gays”

Eventually reasoning people realized that they needed to do something. So, after having been comfortable with the belief that as long as it was ”them”, why care,  those who should already have been doing it began to do the necessary research, and adopted for the general population the practices and treatments begun in the Gay Community when it had to take care of itself.

That was thirty years ago, and one would think that through education that attitude would have changed.

Actions begin with questions like, “should we?”; “Could we?”; “Is it legal to?”

When any, or all of these question are asked, it is because someone is considering the action, and will, in all likelihood, attempt to get others to agree with what they plan.

It is essential to incorporate healthy meals & proper buy levitra viagra amounts of water by the patients which summates the levels of strength of the human body during such drug treatments. The protection of our citizens and our country was levitra tablet paid for with the blood of American soldiers. This is cialis no prescription overnight because they are always busy and need to beat a deadline. Also, its effects http://greyandgrey.com/third-department-decisions-6-13-13/ sildenafil uk are only on hair follicles found on the crown (vertex) of the head, not the forehead or other areas. So it is rather frightening for those who have memories of thirty years ago, that Georgia state Representative Betty Price, the wife of Tom Price, who resigned as President Trump’s health secretary because of his frequent use of private planes the cost of which he passed on to the taxpayer until he was caught, asked the director of the Georgia Department of Public Health’s HIV epidemiology section if she

 “wouldn’t mind commenting on the surveillance of partners, tracking of contacts, that sort of thing.

What are we legally able to do? I don’t want to say the quarantine word — but I guess I just said it. Is there an ability, since I would guess that public dollars are expended heavily in prophylaxis and treatment of this condition, so we have a public interest in curtailing the spread? What would you advise? Are there any methods, legally, that we could do that would curtail the spread?”

After the response from Dr. Pascale Wortley about what steps Georgia has taken to identify people with HIV and get them proper care, Price continued,

“It seems to me it’s almost frightening the number of people who are living that are potentially carriers — well they are carriers — with the potential to spread, whereas in the past they died more readily and then at that point they are not posing a risk. So we’ve got a huge population posing a risk if they are not in treatment.”

She lamented that people with HIV/AIDS are not dying off like in the old days when the pandemic was virtually ignored in this county and thousands of  “those people” died unnecessarily as Nero fiddled!

“in the past they died more readily and then at that point they are not posing a risk.”

Let that sink in.