Re: Unprotected sexual congress among gays is spreading HIV/AIDS in Asia

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum/ Dr Avnish Jolly

/message/9964

Thank you for your information posted. These are my thoughts.

It is my opinion that the contention where by the law will solve the problem of

gay men spreading HIV is misplaced.

 

The law is relevant in as much that it is a Human Rights issue. The gay

community has tried to use the HIV spread to assist in changing the law with

regards to Section 377, but has failed only because public opinion in countries

like India are still not ready to come out of the closet.

 

This does not particularly surprise me when I see courtiers like the US still

falling short of giving gays equal and full human rights. This despite what the

constitution says. In the Man Booker Prize winning book, The White Tiger,

Aravind Adiga highlights our social discrepancies.

 

So it is not some unholy begotten word sodomy. It is a word and behavior that is

well known and practiced, sadly behind closed doors by a cross-section of

society not willing to let go of their own private lives.

We need the law to be changed because it is against the human rights of

individuals and not because gay men who have anal sex, are till date having

unprotected sex (this despite the many NGO’s working with millions of foreign

aid for almost a decade now, have been unsuccessful in altering sufficiently

this social behavior as your report stresses).

This is the third time on this forum I have advocated that NGO’s need to

refocus their efforts towards counseling every single individual sexually

active, male or female to happily welcome ‘TESTING’ for HIV on regular

intervals.

 

In a post on this forum some months back I had highlighted the fact that till

date one finds in public places individuals in inebriated conditions having

unprotected sex. This is in places that are being supervised by NGO’s. And

what are the NGO’s doing?

 

Talking about unsafe sex and when available, handing out condoms. So our social

responsibility is to the level of handing out a condom while talking about

unsafe sex, but our social responsibility has not evolved to the point to where

we can and should say “Yes HIV is out there so protect your self, here is a

condom.

But, friend given the fact that you could be infected your self, you would be

best served by US, the NGO’s if we assist you with having a test done as of

date. HIV is no longer a condition that can not be managed with rudimentary

caution.

 

No sadly, NGO’s have not evolved to this level of thinking yet.

 

Let us not talk about an individual getting slapped by a doctor, allegedly an

educated Doctor at that. I have needed dental treatment for over a year now.

 

The Govt Hospitals who are supposed to give me the medical attention I need are

unwilling to help me. The single doctor who tried to help finally confessed that

he may be attacked by his fellow workers if he attended to me. The reason, they

are not procedurally prepared.

 

Yet the same institute successfully performed abdominal surgery on me just 2

months prior. The doctors who attended to me were absolutely brilliant and

extremely helpful. Yet their dental department is not till date ready to come

forward and help us/me.

 

If we are to stem this growth, we must work at repelling Section 377 because it

is against Human Rights as well as place ‘Testing’ at the Number 1 Priority.

The very fact that the figures have risen from 17.3% to 30.7% in Bangkok and 2%

to 8% in places like Jakarta over a period of 4 years prove to me, that time and

money has been wasted by NGO’s talking about safe sex and distributing

condoms.

 

One does not know when some one was infected given the fact that the virus has a

long gestation period. Also, I must raise the issue of condom failure. Is it not

true that the rate/percentage of condom failure is more or less equal to the

rate/percentage of getting infected when condoms are not used?

 

Advocacy is needed today most, in dispelling the fears associated with HIV.

 

Secondly, we must help all sexually active individuals into having them selves

tested. Lastly, we need to address the issue of Human Rights for gay men and

women.

 

For those in the think tanks of the gay community I will only say that I for one

am gay my self. I am also positive and on ARV’s. If any thing, I think that my

being positive today is more due to lack of factual information than any laws.

 

My being gay is completely incidental. Let us be honest, laws do not, have not,

and will not prevent us from being sexually active individuals.

 

Yes, it would be better to have a more liberal and free environment to work in.

But to lampoon this issue together, is one of the reasons why, out reach

programs have failed in doing any, real work.

 

Instead of fighting the spread of HIV, they have broiled them selves down in

pushing the gay issue vis-à-vis letting the real issue of saving /helping

individuals from either getting infected or helping those who are infected.

 

I do not claim to know every thing, but this is my considered opinion as of

today which comes after studying the issue for 3 years now, something that was

forced onto me having tested positive. I am less regretful of being positive

since I know the virus is exceedingly manageable, than the fact that I tested so

late for me to now, have to be on ARV’s.

 

Sincerely

Kumar

Capt(retd) Kumar

e-mail: <kumar.captretd@...>