As much as we love their Out of the Closet thrift shops, it’s probably time for the gay community to put as much space as we can between ourselves and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Their president is going seriously off the rails.
In a new interview, Michael Weinstein repeated his out-of-touch rhetoric about how we all need to be using condoms — yeah, of course condoms are effective, but saying that it should be the only acceptable method of preventing HIV transmission is about as realistic as pushing for abstinence-only sex ed.
As you’ve probably heard, his group is pretty much the only major backer behind Proposition 60, a proposed law that sounds like a good idea but in practice would likely cause a lot of damage. Not only would it require condoms for porn shoots, it also includes a provision that would force the state to hire Michael Weinstein as a sort of porn czar for California. The law’s vague wording could mean that couples could be sued for shooting condomless sex videos in their own homes. And it could expose performers’ real-life details to stalkers.
Weinstein has a long legacy of stigmatizing people with HIV, and still has negative things to say about PrEP. “It’s often taken in conjunction with crystal meth and other party drugs,” he recently told NPR’s All Things Considered. “It’s really a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The interviewer does not ask for sources for that claim, so maybe it’s true, but given the source we doubt it.
And this is the way Weinstein and AHF always operate, whether it’s about PrEP or porn. They insist that gay men are dangerous, and that we should all be using condoms all the time — an unrealistic expectation that is out of touch with reality.
Weinstein says that he’s just looking out for the safety of porn performers — oh, but he also refuses to meet with them, because they’ve called him names. Good grief.
So, Californians, remember to get out and vote — not just for president, but also no no no, a thousand times no, on Michael Weinstein’s Prop 60.
smartguyd
He sounds like the Catholic church of yesteryear howling about how condoms would bring about the end of society by turning us all into promiscuous sub-human beasts.
mujerado
Weinstein has always seen himself as the wise one who knows all and should be able to rule all in the fight against HIV. Back in the beginning he was practically the only voice calling for the closure of L.A.’s bathhouses, against all the rest of the community. He felt, and probably still feels, that no one else knows enough to protect himself from HIV, which leaves him, Weinstein, to tell everyone else how to do it. It is indeed time to shut this little Napoleon down.
Mkiel
@mujerado: Well said I hate poeple who appoint themselves as spokesperson for whole communities.
Brian
PrEP is for losers and wankers.
Condoms are not needed if you and your partner don’t have an STD. Condoms are ugly things, anyway.
Be monogamous and less promiscuous than you currently are. Pigs might fly, too.
redcarpet30
@Brian: That was the dumbest comment I have ever read, I just, I can’t even.
o.codone
Wait, that woman is actually a man? Wow, it took me almost the entire clip to get that. She is a guy, right? The other guy is cute.
Brian
There is no need to close a bath-house if you’re not promiscuous in it. Learn to control your promiscuity. Men have a hard time controlling their promiscuity but you’ve got to try. Don’t submit to wild abandon. Show some class in how you behave sexually.
Dymension
You know the problem with gay men (yes I am gay!) is that they want to continue to ignore that the world has changed with AIDS. There is no cure for AIDS. Yes, you can live with it, but who wants to have a condition for the rest of their life? It’s not about stigmatizing it’s about taking responsibility for your own life.
jimontp
@redcarpet30: Brian’s comment is not only the most stupid comment ever, it is also the most cruel. Instead of acknowledging that PrEP is effective in preventing HIV transmission, he sounds like a modern day Anita Bryant.
“Be monogamous and less promiscuous.” Preacher nasty comment.
“Condoms are ugly things.” Really? So you condemn gays who use PreP but you acknowledge exactly why they do it?
So happy for you and your “monogamous” partner who don’t have to worry about condoms or PrEP. But that’s not where most gay men live, and you apparently have a nasty, moralistic view of any gay man who doesn’t have your little domestic bliss.
So if one day you find out that your “monogamous” partner has maybe slipped once or twice (maybe because he’s a little bored with living with Anita Bryant?), and oops, he’s tested positive. Where is your preachy drivel about monogamy got you then?
Billy Budd
IMHO PrEP is a fraud created by the greedy pharmaceutical companies. Use condoms and be happy for eternity, whether you are promiscuous or not.
joe
while i’m not on prep i do know many guys that are, what disturbs me the most is that not one of them are following the proper use of this drug. everyone one of them has consciously and deliberately decided NOT to use condoms. the instructions are VERY clear. i think prep is a good thing, i think its a great thing for for
-/+ couples but the only people i know who are using it are using because it feels better, or they are into “taking loads”. we are just now seeing a few cases with men on prep who have contracted a super strain of hiv. this is because the virus has become immune to the drug. i contracted a std virus, not hiv, but i now must see a doctor every 6 mos for ultra sounds and blood work, i need to be on an anti viral the rest of my life. this stuff is nothing to take casually…
adamnfool
“It’s really a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Every other argument, fact or perspective aside, this is a very telling statement.
It basically sounds to me like he is saying drug users should contract HIV.
Newsflash. Everyone should be getting out of that jail for free, by whatever method works best for them.
Party drugs are not his war.
Tête Carrée
@Brian: Sorry “redcarpet30” that comment was for “Brian”.
(f***ing Queerty)
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
I think if I lived in Cali, I’d vote yes on this.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
I think they should make rape and violence illegal in porn next – I mean, my god. Pirn use to sexy and sensual, now it’s vulgar and appalling – especially against women. Women declare rape and they get crucified for it. These women deserve better protection.
seaguy
Weinstein is a pathetic POS who should have been fired from his position at the AHF long ago. He is now wasting money on things that will not make anyone safer, healthier, or more educated about HIV/AIDS. Good work loser.
seaguy
@Billy Budd: Hard to “be happy” with sex when half the pleasure goes away when one rubbers up though.
Prax07
Locally, the only guys I see saying they use prep Are the guys advertising that they party n play. They’re drug users, extremely promiscuous, and just easily avoidable thanks to the fact they’re not shy about listing their dangerous lifestyles on their app profiles.
IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou
The manufacturer marketed it as a party drug, so they might was well be called out for it.
Heywood Jablowme
@Tête Carrée: @jimontp: @redcarpet30:
“PrEP is for losers and wankers.”
Does Brian know what “wanker” means? Should we tell him nobody needs PrEP (or condoms) to masturbate???
Heywood Jablowme
@Prax07: Well, those are the ones you SEE. But PrEP has other users who you wouldn’t necessarily notice, such as sero-discordant couples, so please don’t dismiss the whole concept.
Like you, I’m also glad the “PnP” types are so easy to avoid!
ErikO
I’m not surprised people are using PREP or HIV meds as party drugs as people do this in South Africa, and other countries.
Pretty much every gay man I know who is on PREP does not use it with condoms like you are supposed to ,and they all belive that the toxic med full of nasty side effects will keep them “neg” from HIV and even other STDs.
bob_roder
#stopmichaelweinstein
glennr
Weinstein is full of himself. I hate one-man crusaders and that is exactly what he is. Whats next, after mandating condoms on porn sites and porn actors still acquire HIV, is he going to shut down the gay porn industry next? Lets face facts, bareback porn sells and is popular. Studios try to test and make sure every porn actor is HIV negative and without STD’s, but the studios cannot control what this porn guy may do outside the studio and there lies what I feel is the real problem. These guys have unprotected sex in their personal lives and then want to blame the studios, everyone but themselves. Vote no on Prop 60, do not take away your choice and freedoms.
Granny Spoth
I am personally monogamous.
But I want people who have a wilder sex life to have as many options as possible to protect themselves against STDs and HIV. The 44. 000+ contaminations each year proved the condom-only approach ineffective, just like the abstinence-only approach.
Brian
If you want to have sex like a promiscuous rabbit, go right ahead. However, don’t complain if and when you catch something. You’ve put yourself out there in the sexual market-place and therefore you must take responsibility for your choice.
I hate these queen who go around saying “I’m a victim, I’m a victim”. I say this to them: you are a victim of your own poor choices.
As for PrEP, it’s a chemical. The human body does not like having chemicals added to it. The human body is a self-regulating organism that prefers no chemicals. If you take PrEP and your kidneys start failing, don’t blame me.
Brian
@Baba Booey Fafa Fooey: It’s the women who agree to go along with their mis-treatment in porn. Yep, the women. A female prostitute will do almost anything to make money, and this is reflected in porn.
Women without morals will often accept cash to demean themselves in front of men.