Judy, Excellent analysis. It appears that you've researched this subject thoroughly. Now everyone has been apprised.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <authfriend@...> wrote: > > Let's put this discussion on a more factual basis (John, > this is for your information as well): > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Ann" <awoelflebater@> wrote: > > > > > > So did his [Liberace's] Jyotish reading indicate he was > > > a risk taker? A sexual risk taker in particular or just > > > someone like any other person who is willing to climb > > > a mountain, jump big jumps on horses, become a Fireman, > > > join the military, become a prostitute - all risky > > > behaviour? Of course, gay sex is not necessarily riskier > > > than hetero sex > > At the time, it was *much* riskier because the incidence > of HIV infection among gay men was much greater than it > was in heterosexuals. But it isn't known when Liberace > became HIV-positive. It's been reported that he was > already symptomatic in 1985. If so, it means he could > have contracted the virus in the very early days of the > epidemic before enough was known about the disease for > him to have even been aware that gay sex was risky. > > The earliest report of AIDS in a medical publication > was in 1981, when the CDC described a cluster of five > men in Los Angeles who had died of Pneumocystis carinii > pneumonia, one of the otherwise-rare opportunistic > infections to which people with depressed immune > systems are vulnerable. Of course the disease causing > the immune deficiency hadn't yet been identified as > such, and it would be awhile before it was realized > that it could be spread via sexual contact. > > One of the reasons AIDS was able to spread as it did > before it was recognized as a new disease is that the > *average* time from infection to illness is eight to > ten years. > > - just ask those Doctors treating > > > millions of people with AIDS in Africa, for example. > > > Patient 0 in North America just happened to have > > > been a gay man. > > > > Worse, because it contributed to the ongoing prejudice > > against gays, a gay man who was also a rather promiscuous > > flight attendant. He became a one-man pandemic, a Typhoid > > Mary for our times. > > Well, no, actually he didn't, as it turned out. He would > have infected more than a few men, but the idea that he > started the epidemic in North America all by himself has > been found to have been a myth. A number of gay men like > him, who traveled a lot and were promiscuous, were > responsible for their own clusters of infection, from > which the virus subsequently spread widely. > > Moreover, it has since been discovered that the first > death from AIDS in the U.S. occurred in 1969, and that > HIV may have been responsible for even earlier deaths. > > > Had the AIDS virus infected Warren Beatty, who claims > > to have had sex with hundreds and perhaps thousands > > of women (he can't remember), would the virus have > > been called in its early days "the movie star plague" > > instead of what it WAS called, the "gay plague?" > > Wonderful example of Barry's slovenly thinking. > > > I think not. Homophobes keep associating AIDS with > > gay sex because that fuels their hatred of gays and > > gives them more justifications for keeping that > > hatred alive. They have no similar hatred towards > > movie stars. > > AIDS was called the "gay plague" (including by gays) > because most of the cases of it in the U.S. were in > gay men. There's no way to sugar-coat this: gay men > were particularly vulnerable because in those days > gay men were particularly promiscuous. > > But then one has to ask: Why were they so promiscuous? > There's an excellent case to be made that it was a > reaction to social prejudice against homosexuality. > Having many sexual partners was one thing a gay man > could do to boost his self-esteem in defiance of the > condemnation. Society didn't allow gay men a lot of > other options. > > Plus which, social disapproval of homosexuality > resulted in significant delays in awareness and > research and treatment. Bottom line, many thousands > more gay men died of AIDS in the U.S. than would have > been the case in the absence of homophobia. >
