In commemoration of -WORLD AIDS AWARENESS DAY
If you’ve caught my chatter on the Facebook and Twitter systems, you’ve seen a few of my droppings (postings) under the category #DOaskDOtell. I decided to make an effort to draw up some constitutional statement that includes some commentary on two significant and proximate issues: World AIDS Awareness Day and the debate regarding the American military’s “Don’t ask.Don’t tell” policy pertaining to the open acknowledgement of military personnel’s sexual preference, more pointedly same sex attractions and preferences.
This year’s World AIDS Awareness theme for me is: “DO ask. DO tell.” Without an in-depth analysis regarding the moral, ethical, homophobic, or charismatic evangelistic underpinnings, I seek to draw attention to a few service road points. My position is not stated toward the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality. I am making commentary about how we handle it.
With that said, I begin my diatribe: I find it hypocritical that our nation and religious institutions support the notion of being dishonest, disingenuous, misleading, and everything but forth right. Hmmm or maybe that’s right on target for at least one of the aforementioned institutions. Here it is: make a decision, just say whether men and women who classify themselves as gay can or cannot be apart of the military—just be a big boy/big girl and state your position. But to advocate for secrecy and hiding is treacherous to the (if you will) moral fiber of our nation.
Ah, I get it! You’re afraid that people will say, “That’s discrimination.” Well, tough. It is, but America you’ve done it before (JIM CROW), you can do it again! (ouch that was some hard-line sarcasm).
Here comes the “B” clause of my position and more directly the reason I am writing. It is this same empowerment of the gray areas, the unspoken, the unmentioned, the misleading that has facilitated and factored into the soaring rates of HIV infection in the African American community, especially among women. (Permission to approach the bench your honor.)
- Out of about 1.1 million people in the United States living with HIV or AIDS, more than 500,000 of them are Black, according to recent numbers from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Blacks, who are only 12 percent of the population, account for nearly half (46 percent) of people living with HIV in the United States. (CDC)
- Blacks also account for 45 percent of new HIV infections each year. (CDC)
- The rate of new HIV infections for Black men is about six times as high as that of White men (CDC)
- The HIV incidence rate for Black women is about 15 times as high as that of White women. (CDC)
- At some point during their lives, one in 16 Black men and one in 30 Black women will be diagnosed with HIV. (CDC website)
- Black women accounted for a majority of new HIV cases (61 percent) in 2006 and of new AIDS cases (65 percent) in 2008 among women( Kaiser Family Foundation)
- In 2006, HIV was the fourth leading cause of death for Black men and the third for Black women ages 25-44. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
- The HIV epidemic among Men having Sex with Men (MSM) has grown rapidly as between 2001 and 2006 annual HIV diagnoses among black MSM aged 13-24 grew by 93%. Among black MSM of all ages the figure was 12%
- Black women are hugely, and disproportionately, affected by AIDS, with the most likely transmission route being heterosexual sex. 85 percent of African American women living with HIV were infected this way and account for nearly half of the country’s entire female epidemic. Of black men living with HIV, 22 percent were infected through heterosexual contact.
That’s a lot of facts I flooded with you there. My apologies if you feel overwhelmed. That’s an unintended benefit. Second, I apologize to you because I don’t plan on extensively explaining what each statistic means, except to share my impression which is
(1)Black women are disproportionately infected and their primary mode of transmission is heterosexual contact.
(2) Men who are having sex with men are increasingly becoming infected.
(3) It’s a bunch of men out there who don’t know their status.
(4) Of the black men living with HIV, a low percentage of them contracted through heterosexual contact (so a large percentage of them contracted through MSM and perhaps then engage in heterosexual sex with women.)
The MATH: (1)+(2) x (3)-(4)= the product of some “Don’t ask. Don’t tell” stuff going on out there.
Let me qualify my statements by saying, in no way am I alluding to the myth and UNTRUTH that HIV/AIDS is a gay/homosexual disease or that any particular population is the culprit. However, I am deducing that somebody ain’t talking and it’s making “everybody else” SICK. In the black community particularly, We are literally sick of it!
I wanna mess with your lil’ religious scripture saying, “My people perish for a lack of knowledge.” But some of you might think that’s taking the scripture out of “your” context.
Don’t ask, don’t tell=lack of knowledge=ignorance…moving on! Follow me on Part 2 if you wanna talk with me about the church’s don’t ask don’t tell policy.
It’s that policy in our government, in our ethnic communities, in our spiritual and family communities that has thrust us into soaring statistics, especially connected to this phenomenon of the DL (down low).
My granny said, Tell the truth, shame the devil. Isn’t that ironic? You can work your way out of personal shame just by exposing the truth. Doesn’t it read that the truth makes you free? It didn’t say it had to be a truth that made you feel comfortable? Or even one that you agreed with. (I chuckle)
But the church brings shame when they know the truth instead…Granny’s wisdom says it’s telling the truth that will shame the devil. So the contraposition must be, “Keep it a secret, honor the devil!” Which do you think, “Don’t ask don’t tell does?”
It is your business. DO ASK DO TELL! Know your status, especially if you are sexually active or might at any moment be sexually active (and except for dead people and infants, that pretty much covers everybody.) Don’t look at me in that religious tone of voice. Know yourself, then KNOW (for) yourself. As a valuable piece of information came to me, if you don’t know, you are dangerous to others and any actions coming from you are criminal in intent. You may not want to know for whatever fears you have, but I deserve to know (should the situation call for that knowledge.)
Part 2, I’m going to touch on the church’s Don’t ask don’t tell policy. Join me!
Min.Cory, Wow my stomach is churning becuz it is so much to see all the overwhelming statistics,as a result of the (don’t ask, don’t tell) opinion.I fell it is better to know if there is a problem in that area.HIV and aids have been around for quite a while and it is still devastating to the family and friends of those infected.I don’t think I would have a problem myself being celibate or not being sexually active in ……….many years. If that time was to come in my path I would also have no trouble asking and telling!!!Amen
@ Juanita good for you that you don’t have a problem asking and telling! That’s courageous.
Wow is all that I can say, thank you for your openess and willingness to to “tell it like it tis” and not be worried about the backlash of your opinion based on your position… i think that is what has killed the black community; we are so conscerned about losing things that were never really ours that we dont speak up speak out and do something… I too struggle and look forward to my life INDEPENDENCE day where the confinements of thoughts matters not…
i look forward to your blogs now, thank you
@ Quinne Hey bro! Thanks for stopping through and such strong encouragement! I feel like writing 50 more! LOL But yeah man, as I become more comfortable, more acquainted with CORY…less and less am I anxious about backlash from my opinion. I know that you are on a similar journey, that’s why God brought you into the church in the way that he has (green and open to Him and Him alone…your BS meter is a 10th gift of the Holy Ghost!) Yes, let’s stay up with each other’s blogs and keep ourselves sharpened and our insight keen and relevant.
This Blog of yours is the TRUTH. I am a member of New Birth Atlanta and I am also HIV positive. I have been since 2006. I was one who needs, needed, and still needs help dealing with my sin of homosexuality.
Back in 05, that was one of the worst years of my life. I absolutely hated myself and to this day I still have self esteem issues. I was homeless and basically living out of a barbershop/ beauty salon, an abandoned apartment, and a waffle house all within a span of a few months. There was a strip club up the street called Strokers and I used to walk up and down the road trying to entice dudes to sleep with me….The funniest part about all of that was that these men who were supposed to be straight would actually see me and sleep with me in their cars, the abandoned apartment, or the back of the barber/beauty salon. It was mostly unprotected sex and it was during this particular time in my life that I believe that I contracted HIV…I was only 22years old. I did not find out until 2006, so who knows how many other men i exposed to this deadly disease.
I constantly think about how I could have told someone about what I was going through during this time because I was going to church every Sunday and Wednesday, when we still had Bible study on Wednesday nights. I was active in the ministry, in the choir and yet no one knew of my secret horrible life. I did not know where to turn, and You would think that as large as a church that we ,New Birth is, that we would have the necessary classes, or outlets in place that would help someone like myself but alas…there was none. I still live a secret life and I am not proud of the fact that I still have this issue of homosexuality. Not to mention my disease. I am spiraling out of control and I just need help.
When I did try to get help I was sent to a church way across town that was hard for me to get to because I do not have a car and i live on a very limited budget. That whole experience made me fell like a step child that was just not worth the time and energy to help.
Don’t get me wrong…I love God with all my being….I love My Church, New Birth with all my heart…and I stand beside Bishop Eddie Long for he is a man of God….but there are some things that we as a body of believers need to work on so that I and others like me do not fall through the cracks and die in our secret sins.
I thought that we were at least making headway when we had a one day conference about how to minister to those like me who are struggling with homosexuality but the reality hit me on the day of the conference when there was only about 100 people sparsely seated inside of a 8,000 seat sanctuary and all the ministry leaders, Elders, Ministers, and Deacons as well as the lay members of the church were asked to be there. It gave me the feeling that there was no one who cared about helping us that are crying out for help but don’t know how or who to cry out to…except for the LORD of lords and the KING of kings.
Anywho. I hope I did not stray too far from the topic but again I enjoyed your blog and you are right. Silence is killing us and our people I don’t want to be a casualty in this silent war
@Someone(I)know You have captured my heart! I love you and I mean that. I honor you-You are my hero. You are what this walk in God is all about, struggles and triumphs. Your life has just been used to draw me toward the beauty of God. I will fights somebody behind you! LOL An amazing journey, friend. I’m almost speechless-the only thing that would satisfy me now is to just reach out and hug you 4ever! LOL (That’s because my love language is words of affirmation and touch.) I’d like to stay connected to you and be supportive to you in the way that God permits. i want you to know you are not alone and I GET IT! There is therefore now no condemnation, in fact you are to be celebrated, honored, and treasured above all else. And I do friend, I do. Such a hope of glory resides in you and I’m actually being selfish when I say I’d like to be apart of that emerging from your life…I’m not doing you a favor, the church or no one is doing you a favor: You are doing us a favor. The Holy Spirit has overshadowed you and placed within you a reality of heaven that WE all need. Thank you for giving my thoughts LIFE. My writing is so pale in comparison to the breath of life you have breathed. It was just a thought and a concept when I wrote it…You have made it live and now it has been quickened and animated in my spirit as well. Again, your struggle is sweet and I don’t underestimate the pain of what you have to work through–I do tell you, you have made the Father’s love more real to me than moments before getting your response. We are apart of that emerging nation of believers who will be authentic, have the touch of heaven on our being, and still carry the PRESS & sometimes the thorn! So grateful for you. let’s not give up-let’s work out this great salvation we have and let the beauty and truth of our treasure and our story bring acclaim to the Lord of Glory!
Thank you so very much for you words of encouragement.
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
HIV is the virus that damages the inmmue system by killing CD4 cells. A diagnosis of AIDS is given once the CD4 cell count drops to 200 or below. The problem with a person who has HIV coming in contact with the virus again is that the virus is constantly mutating. That could cause serious problems with treatment and the way the body responds to the virus. For instance, if 2 people in a sexual relationship both have HIV, it is possible that they could each have a different strain of the virus. That means that if they have unprotected sex and infect each other with their different strains, medications they are currently taking may not work as well on the different strain, and their bodies may not respond the same way to the different strain, increasing the chance of them becoming sick more quickly. That’s why, even if both people in a sexual relationship have HIV, they should have protected sex. The mutation is also the main reason why there is no cure for HIV at this point.