She was a very intuitive woman and when she saw that people — friends of hers and fellow actors — were being stigmatized, she recognized an opportunity to use her voice and fame to speak up for those who were being discriminated against. Our grandmother never asked us to follow in her footsteps, especially not as actors, but not even in terms of continuing her work for HIV/AIDS after her death. She taught us by example to help others. But ultimately I don’t think so. If she were to hear that the highest rate of infection is still in young people aged between 24-35, and in particular amongst young gay men, even in this country, she would be horrified. A real complacency has set in and even before she died, when my grandmother was pretty ill, she was horrified to see that. Sadly I don’t think she had the strength to say what she really felt at that point.”
— Naomi deLuce Wilding discussing the AIDS activist-legacy of her grandmother Elizabeth Taylor, who died four years ago today, in an interview with The Telegraph
Kangol
Liz Taylor probably would be appalled and shocked at today’s HIV/AIDS seroconversation rates in the US and globally given how much and consistently she used to fame and public recognition to advocate for better prevention and treatment at the end of her life.
Many people today might not know or remember that unlike many public figures, she openly supported people with HIV/AIDS, including friends like Rock Hudson, when anti-AIDS hysteria and HIV-phobia were very strong, and when Ronald Reagan could not even bring himself to mention the disease publicly.
We have the knowledge and treatments today to end the spread of HIV/AIDS, but we have to do a better job of disseminating it, and getting people to realize it is preventable. For Liz, and for all the people who fought and died to end the AIDS pandemic.
Bromancer7
Perhaps, but I also think she would be thrilled at all the recent studies showing how far we’ve come in treating HIV and preventing the spread of it. We’re at the point where we have a really good chance of eradicating HIV within a generation or two, despite not yet having a cure or a vaccine. The biggest hurdles right now is education and stigma, both from within our community and outside it.
lauraspencer
@Bromancer7….sadly I don’t think education is the answer.
The knowledge has been around for 30 years now and gay men continue to ignore the informaiton. HIV/AIDS is taught in school health classes, has been portrayed in countless movies and TV shows, has been in headlines in newspapers, blogs, magazines and published in books.
If gay Americans or other gay men in western countries don’t know that unsafe sex can cause infection and a future living with a terrible disease I’m not so sure what else can be said or done to get through to them.
Thank you Elizabeth Taylor for all your work and support at a time when it wasn’t the easiest and most accepted thing to do. You were a true leader more than many of our electred officials then and even now.
Xzamilio
@Bromancer7: We’re a long damn way from eradicating it, and your optimistic yet unrealistic expectation of eradication notwithstanding, lauraspencer has a valid point. How long has this information been out and gay men are still refusing to wrap it up? Fuck hurting his feelings by questioning his status, and fuck using Truvada as an excuse to raw dog it. Education isn’t the problem because we’ve been educated. And stigma… well, that’s a bird that won’t fly after a while.
Tackle
I don’think she would have been shocked. Seeing that she died only 4 yrs ago, and when she died, the highest rates 4 yrs ago, was the same as it is today. I agree with @Bromancer7: in that she would be thrilled with the advancements and options that are available today. She was very big on information and informing the public about HIV & AIDS. She was never the type to say, you must use a condom. Her mentality was more like, you can lead a horse to water. But you can’t MAKE them drink it…
Merv
The infection rates today are a disgrace. Xzamilio is right that much of the problem is due to fear of hurting the feelings of HIV+ individuals. I understand that it’s very difficult to deal with seroconversion, but it’s a hell of a lot easier now than it was a few decades ago when it was a certain death sentence. Poz people should WANT to make whatever sacrifices might be required to stop the epidemic. There are things more important than the next orgasm. We can’t allow our policy to be driven by feelings anymore. It has to be driven by science.
Paco
@Merv: actually it is the people who are HIV negative that need to make the sacrifice to stop the spread. The sacrifice being, giving up unprotected sex. There are people engaged in unprotected sex with many new partners per week that are only getting tested a couple times per year, if at all. How many people can they expose between testing and how many of those they have exposed are exposing others.
Poz guys that know their status and are on treatment, typically aren’t the problem with the continued spread of HIV.
Merv
@Paco: Condoms should always be used, but it must be understood that they can break or slip off at the worst possible time, and should not be considered the only defense against HIV, but merely extra protection against the sero-conversion window. The primary defense should be frequent testing and mandatory disclosure.
Xzamilio
@Merv: Actually, that comment wasn’t targeting HIV+ individuals, really, but we as gay men in general. I mean, not taking someone at their word that they are safe, and not using the negative results of an HIV test to throw caution — and protection — to the wind. It’s not just about people who know they are HIV positive, but those who may not know… or those who think HIV is the only thing they should be afraid of when there are strains of gonorrhea that on the verge of becoming superbugs.
Giancarlo85
Education is really something that has been lacking in this fight. HIV isn’t the only disease out there, but rather being vigiliant. The government takes a great deal of blame for the lack of action and this spans back all the way to the criminal Reagan administration and that incompetent Surgeon General he had. At any rate, I have an issue with the way certain activists are fixated on marriage, and are neglecting other issues within the community.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85…
You can take a kid to the library, but you can’t make him check out a book.
You can turn the computer on, but you can’t make someone skip their gossip blogs to read about HIV/AIDS.
You can have World AIDS Day, but you can’t make people think about the meaning.
You can wear red ribbons for years at high profile events, but you can’t make individuals understand the significance.
You can have AIDS in the media spotlight for years with DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB, Rock Hudson, Magic Johnson, ANGELS IN AMERICA, AND THE BAND PLAYED ON, NORMAL HEART, Larry Kramer, etc, etc, etc but if people choose not to pay attention then what can you do?
You can walk or create a ride every year through cities across this country but if people don’t put on their sneakers or hop on a bike to raise money for the cause then does the cause not matter?
I could go on and on. The education has been there for years. When you think of illness I can only think of one disease that has gotten as much attention over the past 20 years and that is Breast Cancer. If you compared the two HIV/AIDS probably gets even more attention.
The education is present and has been for years. It’s that the students don’t want to apply themselves and learn.
Giancarlo85
I’m not trying to make anyone do anything. You need to read my posts a bit more clearly. Of course attitudes need to shift. You don’t need to go on some tirade about other issues.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85…deary, a couple of comments in a rational tone aren’t a tirade.
If you want to see a tirade, check out my comments on the Lewinsky posting. That’s more of a tirade.
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: Your whole post is considered a tirade. And completely missing the point I made in the original post. You need to get some help seriously…
Get a fucking grip.
Realitycheck
Sadly drugs like Cocaine and Meth are to blame for irresponsible sexual behaviors that leads to HIV infection.
Onthe other hand we now have treatments that do keep people alive and healthy with
literally a daily dose and once month treatments are just around the corner.
Wilberforce
@lauraspencer: Thank you.
On this subject, I often remember the meeting scene in Normal Heart, where all the queens go ballistic when Julia speaks a bit of common sense.
I had the same experience at gay meetings at Stanford and UC Berkeley. It was in the early eighties, and we didn’t know much. I said we should cool the promiscuity and always use condoms. And they all screamed at me at once. Screamed. I actually had to leave it was so bad.
But I’ve always known the problem is not meth, or slut shaming, or stigma, or government inaction, or any of the other bulls— excuses they give. The problem is internalized homophobia, the self-hatred and self-destructiveness that many in our community carry into their 90s. The problem is that no one calls them on it.
Giancarlo85
@Wilberforce: Except her post didn’t actually address mine.
Laura is one big bullshit artist on here.
Nobody said not to use condoms. I’m all for that. She totally missed the point of my post though.
McShane
@Giancarlo85:
I’m sorry, was Wilberforce talking to you?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r76H62tzrg&w=560&h=315%5D
Giancarlo85
@McShane: Oh it’s the hit and run troll… I won’t expect a reply to you. Get a life man.
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85….if anyone needs help it isn’t me my friend. Once again, I say if you think my comment was a tirade then you don’t know the meaning of the word. I didn’t type it in a mean or assertive tone. It was just calm and free flowing thought. That you read it as a tirade has more to say about you than me.
I’m sorry that you are so sensitive. Don’t take out on me what has been done to you in the past by others. I didn’t mean to offend you. I hope you have a better day tomorrow.
lauraspencer
@Wilberforce…It takes special people to say the right things at the wrong time. It is sad that people don’t listen. Don’t give up! Keep speaking your mind 🙂
Giancarlo85
@lauraspencer: You missed the point of my first post. You are too stubborn to reason with. Your post was a sloppy irrelevant mess. I never said attitudes didn’t have to change. You totally missed the post.
I’m sorry that you are so clueless. Sensitive? LOL. If you knew anything about me you’d know that is far from the truth.
Keep up the lies though… I find them amusing.
Giancarlo85
By the way, it was very assertive and crude… just take a look at the tone of the post. It was irrelevant sloppy crap that had nothing to do with my post.
markgtx11
DDF A random hookup between two gay robots who met online leads to a conversation on sexual activity and risk.
https://youtu.be/MZ541LDcUYQ
CCTR
@Wilberforce:”The problem is internalized homophobia, the self-hatred and self-destructiveness that many in our community carry into their 90s.”
Powerful statement!
Paco
@markgtx11: That was hilarious and sad at the same time. Sad, because it is true.
markgtx11
Anyone who has unprotected sex or thinks being positive is easier should watch this documentary and make an informed decision. Your health is your most valuable asset!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rf85eRNze0&t=1444
Stache99
@markgtx11: I remember that from about 10 years ago. It’s probably about 15 years old now. A bit dated in terms of today’s prevention strategies. Plus, it’s mostly about bug chasers which is BS.
Bromancer7
@Xzamilio: “fuck using Truvada as an excuse to raw dog it”
And that’s exactly the stigma I’m talking about. Thank you for proving my point. If people are educated and understand that Truvada isn’t just for cum dump whores we could go a long way to prevent future infections. It’s a whole lot easier to take a pill every morning than it is to stop and put on a condom, especially if you have problems with them. But no, let’s ignore that and keep calling people Truvada whores. Cause that’s really going to help things along.
Chanmu124
@Bromancer7: How is using a drug that not everyone can afford easier than putting on a condom? Condoms are insanely cheap and readily available to everyone. Drugs are not. Stopping to put on a condom takes all of 30 seconds. But shelling out thousands of dollars on a very new drug is easier for some I suppose.
Xzamilio
@Bromancer7: Uh, dumbass, I didn’t say you didn’t have a point. I said your outlook, while optimistic, was unrealistic.
Xzamilio
@Bromancer7: And by the way, Truvada is a fairly new thing, so it doesn’t cancel out the DECADES of sex education and HIV prevention methods that have been out there. Try again, babes, because you’re being intellectually dishonest and you know it, which is why you harped on THAT point and ignored everything else I said.
Blackceo
@Xzamilio:
I agree with your POV. Condoms have worked well for me. I’m not keen on pills period and I sure as hell am not shoving a pill down my throat on some new drug for which there have been no longitudinal studies on what affect on the body it has years later. For those who take it and for whatever reason, it’s their business. For me, I’m not taking no damn Truvada or Prep, but the effectiveness of them are a good thing for those who choose that as a singular or multiple option for HIV prevention. But, I’ve done the things to prevent me from having to shove pills down my throat and Im not about to start now.
Bromancer7
@Xzamilio: No, you’re just being obtuse and showing your obvious bias against Truvada and those that take it.
Previous to Truvada the only education about HIV was to always wear a condom. Now if that actually worked for everyone there would be no new HIV infections, ever. Clearly that’s not the case, so the message of “wrap it up” is not sufficient, as there are those that for any number of reasons won’t, can’t, or don’t take the time out to use a condom.
And while Truvada has been approved for PrEP since 2012 the drug combo has been in use since 2004. Providing people with education and explaining to them that there are now other option than “wrap it up” is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Considering we’re at a point where those who are infected and medicated can’t pass the virus and those that take PrEP (either with or without condom use) have a near-zero chance to catch the virus we are very much on the road to eradication. If those that have it can’t spread it, and those that have it can’t catch it, then it’s done. The key is EDUCATION. Use condoms. If you don’t like condoms, use PrEP. Or both. If you’re poz then take your meds and keep your viral load undetectable. If we can get those messages out thru EDUCATION, then we can watch HIV go bye bye. It’s only unrealistic if you’re a pessimist with clear and obvious biases.
Bromancer7
@Chanmu124: Because if putting a condom on was easy and viable for everyone then there would be no new HIV infections, would there? Clearly it’s not as easy for others as it may be for you. Options are a good thing, not a bad one. Just because you don’t see the value doesn’t mean others might not.
And many insurance companies cover Truvada, so for those that are covered the cost is likely negligible. It actually costs me less than a large box of condoms. I take one pill in the AM with my coffee and I’m done.
It’s an OPTION to condoms and/or an extra layer of protection with condoms, one that most people don’t even know about due to a lack of education. Or the stigma from our own community that if you’re taking Truvada you’re automatically a bareback-loving cum dump whore.
markgtx11
The only answer here is to not argue sexual behavior with other gay men. For the most part it is a sacred cow in our community and despite any good intentions there will always be guys who will fight for their right to do as they please sexually whether it is in their best interest or their partners. Some people will fight for their right to be a statistic despite any data you present to them so don’t even bother.