Godfrey Zaburoni, of Australia-via-Zimbabwe, once appeared on Australia’s Got Talent as an acrobat, but now he’s on TV for possibly infecting hundreds of women with HIV. A Queensland court charges Zaburoni with causing (and intention to cause) grievous bodily harm to one woman in particular, who he allegedly screwed without informing her of his HIV status. But he could get off if it turns out he didn’t know he was positive. In an age where some courts equate HIV infection with terrorism, Zaburoni’s possible legal defense sends the clear message that it’s legally better not to know your HIV-status — if you’re the type who goes around sticking your dick into every open hole without concern.
IRONY KILLS
HIV+ Acrobat Godfrey Zaburoni’s Arrest Provides A Great Reason Never To Get Tested
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KCT
This article is deplorable if you are suggesting people should not get tested for HIV. The deaths of thousands of people will be on your hands and you are encouraging the spread of HIV.
Mike L.
OK the title is fucked up Queerty.
Jon (not that other one)
@Mike L.: This one is over the line qweerty.
Irresponsible and dangerous.
DR (the real one, not the guy who made post #12)
Very irresponsible and dangerous. People need to know their status so they can have these conversations with their partners. Bad title, not a great conclusion, either.
Jon (not that other one)
Hey Qweerty . .did you sit back and snark while friends died? while friends were evicted from homes, and their belongings burned on the lawn by a hazmat crew while at a partners funeral? while the President contemplated the idea that concentration style camps for homosexuals might be appropriate?
I thought not.
You kids need an F-ing history lesson.
Some of us lived through it, and continue to fight.
Giving the idea that HIV testing is a liability . . .?
okay that’s just completely fucked up.
Shame on you.
Jesse
This website has officially jumped the shark.
Jon (not that other one)
@Jesse: I’m an old man, but I’m sick to hell over the ignorance and flippant attitude that has become a trend. . .
Treatments are a stop-gap measure, but the reality remains that AIDS is STILL killing and devastating our friends and families.
Queerty should take a step back with posts like this one & apologize for it. . . but then, this site doesn’t even allow the originator an identity.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
If “Ignorance of the law is no excuse” don’t expect that ignorance of one’s HIV status will prevent prosecution and conviction under intentional disregard for the safety of others.
The difficult task for prosecution is proving that the claimed victim was not already infected. Obviously, the claim victim also willingly engaged in unsafe practices. Certainly a claim of reasonable doubt exists when a victim is known to engage in unprotected sex. And, while DNA testing can delineate HIV strains, that just represents the odds of infection by a certain individual: if Male A infects Female B, and Female B infects Male C, and Male C infects Female D, then A and D engage in unprotected sex, A did not infect D, C did.
+++++++++++++++++++
And come-on Queerty, this one truly sucks the big one. HIV/AIDS is serious shit and making loosely snarky headlines and articles is beyond good taste. Shame, assholes. And no whiney post should any of you find out you have become POZ, you have made it seem acceptable to engage in unprotected sex so long as one does not get tested. Shame.
Daniel
But isn’t that precisely what the courts are communicating when not knowing your HIV-status becomes a legal defense? They’re rewarding ignorance and promoting death. We’re merely reporting the incentive courts give for people not to get tested. If you feel outrage then good, direct it to the courts that compel such headlines, not us for writing them.
(required)
But in your attempts to report something this jarringly terrible, you have forgotten to clearly define your stance on the issue.
The dry sarcasm injected in the story reads more like legal tips and less like authentic reporting. Combine this with the bad humor in the title and end statement, and you have a seriously f’d up article.
You’re not the BBC and this site is not without an agenda. People expect reporting sensitive to the nature of this website. HIV is something the community here takes seriously. News like this is going to be a bitter pill to swallow for anyone here, and should be treated so.
doubter
@(required): if you can’t see the sarcasm then perhaps you should consider getting tested for asperger’s or autism…
doubter
@Daniel: i COMPLETELY agree with your stance! their anger should be directed towards the judges and legal systems making these determinations. They shouldn’t be trying to shoot the messenger.
JK
Check out the HIV prevention for positives campaign called HIV Stops With Me (www.hivstopswithme.org) or join the discussion around HIV/AIDS issues on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/HIV-Stops-With-Me/106760289359369?ref=ts
jason
HIV is very difficult to catch. I wouldn’t be surprised if none of the women caught HIV after having sex with this guy.
As for AIDS, it’s not a gay condition. Stop playing the gay victim card when it comes to AIDS. You’re tarnishing the notion of male-male sexuality so that you can get a few more funds and keep your cushy jobs going in these AIDS Councils.
jason
When HIV came along, the gays tried to have it both ways. No, it’s not a gay disease, they thundered. Oh, yes, it’s harming our community so please give us more funds, they would also argue.
See the inconsistency?
Jon (not that other one)
I think Jason (above) made my point.
You kids need a history lesson.
wannabegay2
What about those women? Didn’t know to ask for a condom to be used? This is so stupid!
Jon (not that other one)
@Daniel: Daniel writes ”
But isn’t that precisely what the courts are communicating when not knowing your HIV-status becomes a legal defense? They’re rewarding ignorance and promoting death. We’re merely reporting the incentive courts give for people not to get tested. If you feel outrage then good, direct it to the courts that compel such headlines, not us for writing them.”.
And I write: Can you possibly understand the damage that you do by writing a headline that promotes not getting tested for a fatal disease does? You are not “merely reporting”. In fact, with your headline, You’ve made a joke concerning the deaths of my friends and countless others.
It’s not the content of the story, it’s the snark. . this time it’s not even remotely funny.
Jason (in the comments above) is a perfect example of how dangerous this flippant attitude has become. . .”the gays tried to have it both ways”.
???? really?
Wow.
nikko
Evil bastard. Typical delinquent black guy.
Sine
Queerty isn’t trying to justify not getting tested (that’s just stupid).
It’s making a point that when knowing your status (and then fucking people) can get you life in prison because they allege that you didn’t tell them… well, that’s reprehensible. Then again, if the guy really did put the pee in the vagee without tell her he was positive, that’s reprehensible, too.
The point is no one wins in situations like these and they can be used to drag a person through the mud for no reason other than their status.
It’s highlighting an example of HIV discrimination, not actually advocating against getting tested. Learn to read.
DR (the real one, not the guy who made post #12)
@Daniel:
You wrote: “But isn’t that precisely what the courts are communicating when not knowing your HIV-status becomes a legal defense? They’re rewarding ignorance and promoting death. We’re merely reporting the incentive courts give for people not to get tested. If you feel outrage then good, direct it to the courts that compel such headlines, not us for writing them.”
You clearly miss the point of the outrage. It’s not about your “legal analysis”, but your utterly abominable attitude in the way you have approached it. This is a serious topic and what you’re flippantly doing is advocating for ignorance.
DillonS
Queerty is doing what it always does … trying to be all controversial as it struggles to maintain any legitimacy within our community. I use this site as nothing more than a jumping off point to link to the real news stories. Nothing more.
When they finally get a talented editor and group of writers this site could actually mean something again.
They try so hard to be clever (as with this piece) and they fail miserably. Perhaps replace the hacks with real journalists?
Bill Perdue
@nikko: Typical racist, religious nut. He even admires Cassandra, the self appointed jebus jumpin missionary to the heathens at Queerty.
http://www.queerty.com/street-preachers-stupid-arrest-provides-great-opportunity-to-sue-over-religious-infringement-20100527/
One drink a night
“the type who goes around sticking your dick into every open hole without concern.” I like the comment. See how degrading it is to both genders who practice this way of life. To all the women out there who “open their hole” after a few drinks on a night out: you get what you are looking for. Contract HIV – leave with it. Don’t expect me the health care worker and a tax payer to feel sorry for you and provide antiretroviral therapy to keep you relatively healthy so you can go and spread the disease. Same goes for the men out there who are “sticking their dick” into every open hole.
I am not a religious person and I don’t care if people have sex out of wedlock or before they get married. But to all women out there who jump in bed with anyone after they have a few drinks, HAVE SOME DIGNITY!!! Don’t degrade yourselves! It is degrading. Stop binge drinking so you can think clearly! Or if you are so hot blooded after a few drinks, buy a vibrator!!! It is cheap, safe and people will not talk about you!