3 ms·
Funnily enough, in Italy (where I grew up) there was next to no association in the public mind between HIV/AIDS and homosexuality. It was linked to drug use and
by qubex 6y ago
Funnily enough, in Italy (where I grew up) there was next to no association in the public mind between HIV/AIDS and homosexuality. It was linked to drug use and sexual promiscuity, but it was drilled into us that any kind of unprotected sex (and for most people, that was automatically construed as heterosexual sex) was a risky behaviour.
I was honestly very surprised when, towards the end of the nineties and early 2000s, it gradually dawned upon me that elsewhere there was a connotation of HIV/AIDS as having been somehow associated with homosexuality ‘abroad’.
For us, in Italy, it was very much perceived as an activity-related risk, not an identity-related one. (As I dare say it should be, methinks.)
- smabie 6y agoSure, but getting AIDS from "regular" sex is pretty rare and difficult. The chance of infection is very low.
- qubex 6y agoMy point is that the governmental message was deliberately tailored to address promiscuity and unprotected sex, rather than single out any specific demographic or minority.
- foldr 6y agoIt can't be that difficult. Look at Africa, for example.
- pinkfoot 6y agoGoogle 'dry sex and AIDS' first. You might have to broaden your definition of normal.
- foldr 6y agoMy definition of 'normal' includes men fucking each other in the butt. I hope yours does too. Everyone who's at all serious about tackling AIDS in Africa (rather than making some kind of veiled political or moral point) is focused on reducing unprotected sex.
- pinkfoot 6y agoAbsolutely - I'm the poster child for tolerance.Why would you jump to such an ungenerous assumption? Would you say, on reflection, that you followed the site guidelines by taking the most positive interpretation of my post possible?
- ikonst 6y agoSame (growing up in Israel). Didn’t realize it’s “gay” until much later. Here’s from 1992: https://youtu.be/rQTbSFojYRE https://youtu.be/rQTbSFojYRE