Well said...
Sometimes the LGBT communities remind me of the passengers on the Titanic; sipping drinks and listening to the band as the ship sinks..

Occasionally I have hope, as I did during the spontaneous protest wave a few weeks ago, before caution took hold and we surrendered our radicalism to become cringing, begging supplicants yet again.

sigh.

While I appreciate that Mr. Leven is personally invested in this very emotional topic and can thus give him some leeway, I think this post goes too far and is offensive and counter-productive.

If his intent is to persuade people to join this cause and show up for these types of events in the future, then telling his audience how awful they are for not showing up this time is a very bad way to go about it. I felt like I was reading a Republican rant, not an ally's words. If this is the tone of the event itself, I certainly have no desire to be there next year.

Mr. Leven is particularly disappointed by the lack of people younger than himself present. I feel as though if I had participated, this would have been meaningless because I am over 30 years old, or at least my participation would have been viewed as less significant than that of a person in her early 20s.

The final insult is his description of what he believes I was doing instead of being at the protest. You are incorrect, Mr. Leven. I was not at a bar, I don't drink much anymore, and I don't buy much porn or watch it in public. These broad generalizations about the gay community actually reinforce negative stereotypes which the Christian fundamentalists can use in their arguments that LGBT people are unfit for social acceptance and equality. To me it sounds like internalized homophobia. We don't need any more self-hatred.

Most of all, this tirade is immature. The LGBT community can certainly do a much better job in its activism and support of these events. However, we are not the source of the underlying problems, and in aiming his ire at us, Mr. Leven misses the point. Be angry and rant at the people in the world who discriminate against us. Be kind to your brothers and sisters and encourage them to do better.

As we said back in Kansas, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

I've been feeling the same way lately. Granted, I live in a relatively small town, but the AIDS vigil I went to last night had only about 30 attendees. It was held about a block from the college, but only 5 students were there. It was a really powerful and well-put together service, and it was such a shame that so many people weren't willing to take just an hour out of their day to remember those who have died and to stand in solidarity with those in our community who are living with HIV/AIDS.

I'm getting really sick of apathy.

I've been to many World AIDS day events over the years. Mostly between the ages of 20-25 I stopped going to them last year. Frankly every time I went to one of these events I didn't feel welcome and I never felt particularly connected to the event. I always feel like an outsider at this kind of event.

I have friends who have AIDS and I even know a few people who have died from AIDS related disorders. I've even dated men who have hiv. So I should be emotionally involved and I should be moved but I'm not. Maybe AIDS is simply a fact of life for me so the connection just isn't made. Maybe the horror and fear AIDS cause has simply missed me, instead its a disease like any other. Who knows what could be the cause of the disconnect but it certainly exists.

I can answer why I feel like an outsider at these event though. Its really quite simple (in my area at least) these events are organized by older gay males primarily for older gay males.

But then again maybe I'm bitter and have had bad experiences. If I have offended anyone I'm most deeply sorry to do so.

Eric,

I agree with your post; but, it is my opinion that most GLBT people who are unconcerned about HIV/AIDS. Yes, when we "owned" the disease we were indeed invested. Today, the discussion about HIV/AIDS has changed and it is treated as if it is no longer a gay disease. I still believe that it is a gay disease because male to male transmission accounts for 50% or more of HIV cases in the United States even today.

I don't know how you get the word out. This year there was a World Aids Day event in Indianapolis with Bush's former World Aids Czar giving a talk. There was decent press coverage before and after the event. I was happy to see that about 150 attended. The program was at a northside church. I decided not to go because I was just too tired. AIDS does that to you.

How to get the young people involved? I wonder about that continually. ASOs, Ryan White Planning Councils, Food Banks, and numerous other organizations need consumer and public participation. It's like whisling in the wind. Many organizations cannot accept volunteers because of their real or perceived liability. I belong to various social organizations that are generally well-attended. Getting any of these same people to an AIDS Walk, a charity concert, a World AIDS Day event, a Client Service Committee, even a Dining Out for Life event, is next to impossible.

As you note, it is largely the same people who support the HIV/AIDS community out of a sense of obligation or just because it's the right thing to do. As for me, I am personally invested and that's why I am an activist. Christian took offense at your comments. I really don't know the basis for his remarks, I think he was overly sensitive and took your remarks personally rather than informationally or constructively. I agree with you and I agree with Bil's assessment.

Oh right, we're at our local gay bars, free of police brutality, throwing back beers and whiskeys while we are stripped of our rights and bareback porn plays on the plasma screens behind us.

God, young gays piss me off so much too! If only our pretty little heads were made to hold substantive thoughts instead of cocks!

Sorry, Eric, but I fear that columnist Andrew Sullivan is correct: If you are white, male, educated, upwardly mobile, well-connected, with a good income, a reliable source for your anti-HIV-cocktail meds, and a well-written profile posted on your favorite find-a-bareback-fuck website, then "AIDS is over" --- or we pop a few pills once a day, and it is over for the next 24 hours, at least.

And if you are not white, male, educated, upwardly mobile, well-connected, affluent, with a good online fuck-me-profile, then you probably don't matter anyway ... so who cares?

Andrew Sullivan advocates for barebacking, does he not? Perhaps that's all I got out of it.

I considered the popping a few pills a day line as meaning access to meds and taking them was easy so what the hell. Perhaps I reacted to that notion. The drugs are not a walk in the park.

I ignored most of A.J. Lopp's comments about on-line profiles and such as I have no knowledge of how that all works. On the other hand, I will go to a Ryan White Planning Council meeting in a couple of hours and I do know about HIV/AIDS (as you and others do). The "if you are white, male, educated, upwardly mobile, well-connected, with a good income, a reliable source for your anti-HIV-cocktail meds" then "AIDS is over" comment is just plain wrong.

I will research a little more about Andrew Sullivan's views and get back to you. Thank you for your comments as they helped me understand better what A.J. may have meant.