A friend of mine in San Francisco is close to death from AIDS. Yes, he’s gay. I told him decades ago, “If you catch the HIV virus, I’m going to kill you.” Didn’t deter him...many if not most of the people who are afflicted with this disease are sex addicts. Sex can be an addiction, and that’s where any “panel on AIDS” should begin.
I was at school in SF when the epidemic began. Young men were dropping right and left...took awhile to identify it as a sexually-transmitted disease, but when that was announced, any sane person would have STOPPED their stupid addictive behavior. But all the programs the government sponsors are directed toward accommodation.
Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” comment has been vilified all over the place, but it’s the only sane thing to say to an addict. Had this conversation yesterday with a female friend who is 150 pounds overweight. She argued, and I told her “your addiction always lies to you.” She’s smart enough to understand that she’s addicted to food.
A man I dated works as a drug-and-alcohol counselor. A very “no BS” guy who saw through client’s excuses. Virtually every time we went to a restaurant, someone came up and thanked him for getting them or their kids clean and sober, some quite effusively. Even with a 50% success rate, counseling (often mandated by employers) is worthwhile.
So I hope this AIDS panel has a clue.....and can “just say no” to accommodating unprotected sex.
My youngest bother moved to San Francisco in his early 20s. I had infrequent contact with him over the years, but I remember a phone conversation in I said that I envied his being single in a city with so many young women available because there were so many queers who would not be interested in them. I never knew he was homosexual until after his death at 41.