Upon cleaning out one of my offices this past week, I found some waivers from 2005 for getting HIV testing at the doctor's office where I work. I also found waivers from the state, and info sheets about HIV, one of which used outdated terms to refer to the virus. These waivers were to be signed by the patient to inform them about the HIV testing procedures in Oregon, and get their acceptance or denial to perform the HIV blood test. The waivers also had a box to check the reasoning behind this test, which had options like, "Patient Requested", "High-Risk Behavior", and "Symptomatic". My boss, who was a practicing laboratory technician during this time, mentioned that these waivers are no-doubt rooted in deep homophobia. He said that people were still so ignorant to the science, and that HIV and AIDS were still thought of as a "gay" thing, even in the mid-2000s. He said that the waivers were kind of a way to explain to patients that, "we're not calling you gay, we just need to test you because this epidemic is affecting everyone." Which in-itself, explains how deeply homophobic everyone was.
This (kind of shocking) trip-to-the-past got me thinking about my relationship with HIV, compared to others of different generations, or those who are not involved in the healthcare or LGBTQ+ communities.
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| Protesters with ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) |
I was born in 1998, which was after the main hubbub of the 1983 AIDS epidemic, but was still very much a prominent topic in the news. I don't remember seeing or hearing anything about the HIV/AIDS epidemic until I was in high school Microbiology class, where we were learning about viruses. I did a lot of my own research around this time, because this was also about the time where I was discovering my own place in the LGBTQ+ community, so I was trying to learn the history of my community that was not taught in school. After I started getting more involved in the LGBTQ+ community around my city, I realized that this tragedy is much closer than I had thought. I had older friends within the community who lost loved ones to the epidemic during the 80s and 90s. I had seen emotional performances by queer creators about their friends who they had lost. I know people who lived through the epidemic.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic reminds me of the ignorance and hate that even our own government was instilling, at the time, when HIV and AIDS were referred to by many as GRID, or Gay-Related Immunodeficiency. During the early stages of the epidemic, when otherwise healthy gay men were dying of rare diseases, the government was not doing a whole lot to prevent, or even research the causes, because the gay community was still so stigmatized, and there was deep-rooted homophobia in every corner of the United States. It wasn't until straight white people and children were being affected, that the United States Government really started to put resources towards researching and preventing HIV and AIDS. Once again the LGBT+ community and people of color were being disregarded as "un-important".
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| Credit: @mattxiv on Instagram |
Blood donation practices came under fire after the AIDS infection of Ryan White, a hemophiliac teenager who contracted the disease from a contaminated blood transfusion. Since the epidemic, The Red Cross has implemented many procedures to prevent the spread of HIV through blood transfusion practices, including questionnaires, and blood testing procedures, however even these practices have homophobic roots. By excluding "men who have sex with men" this not only still puts the stigma on gay men, but uses transphobic language, thus misgendering trans-women and non-binary people who have penises. Plus, since the blood is put through rigorous testing for all blood-borne diseases, as well as sterilized before it is used, why does it matter who the source is? Other countries like Canada and Mexico have lifted the ban on gays donating, and science has suggested that it's safe for gays to donate, so why shouldn't the US follow suit?
Reflecting on my experiences as a queer person, I feel very fortunate to live in a place and during a time where education is accessible, and prevention is possible. LGBTQ+ history is still not taught in schools across the US, and Sex-Ed is still not mandatory in all states across the US. There are still changes to be made, but we have come a long way from widespread, profound homophobia and utter disregard for the lives of queer people.
Another article to check out about the ban on gays donating blood:
http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/02/25/fda-blood-donation-ban
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