Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
so says a blunt, controversial ad campaign started by the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles:
[q]HIV Ads Embrace, and Stun, Audience
By Sharon Bernstein
Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2006
For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.
But now, one of Southern California's most influential gay institutions has embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV is a gay disease."
With that message and the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and in magazines, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center says it is trying to reach legions of gay men who have become complacent about HIV and AIDS.
[q]FOR THE RECORD:
AIDS prevention ads: A Sept. 30 article in Section A said the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center had embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV is a gay disease," with the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and in magazines. The article should have made clear that the print ads, which appeared only in gay magazines, use all of that language; but the billboards —there are two, in West Hollywood -- say only "HIV," with the tagline, "Own it. End It."[/q]
The campaign is an abrupt departure from the years of hard politicking against the idea of AIDS as a gay plague, a characterization that many — including the Gay & Lesbian Center — had argued marginalized victims and made it hard to reach others who were at risk, including thousands of minority women who have become infected in recent years.
The ads have stunned some in the gay community and the AIDS services world, who recall the early years of the epidemic, when anti-gay clergy railed against the condition and little money was available for research or prevention.
Some AIDS counselors worry that the campaign could further stigmatize the disease, making women and heterosexual men less likely to come forward.
So much attention is being paid to minority women and others who are at risk that gay men — who still make up the majority of those infected in the United States and Western Europe — have developed a false sense of security, backers of the ads say.
The problem of AIDS apathy among gay and bisexual men is of particular concern on the West Coast, public health officials say, where the overwhelming majority of HIV transmission is among men engaging in sex with other men.
In Los Angeles County, about 75% of HIV cases are among men who have had sex with other men.
The L.A. infection count is somewhat at odds with data from other parts of the country — including several East Coast communities — where infection is spreading rapidly among women and intravenous drug users.
"A very alarming silence has descended over our community with regard to HIV and AIDS," said Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Gay & Lesbian Center.
"We believe that most people in our community do not understand the degree to which this epidemic continues to be in Los Angeles largely an epidemic among gay and bisexual men," she said.
The ad campaign has drawn sharp criticism from some in the trenches of the battle against HIV, particularly those who work closely with infected women.
"I applaud the desire to have more personal responsibility in the gay community, but this is not the way to achieve it," said Michael Weinstein, head of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
He said that worldwide, it is increasingly heterosexuals who have become ill.
"AIDS is not a gay disease," Weinstein said. "It's not an African American disease; it's not a Latino disease. It is a disease of the immune system."
Nationwide, gay and bisexual men account for just 45% to 50% of recent HIV transmission, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Women make up 33% of cases in New York and 27% nationwide. In Los Angeles County, women make up about 12% of the total, according to national and county health statistics, but their number has been increasing.
At particular risk are women and men in immigrant and minority communities, where many men who have had sex with other men do not consider themselves gay and have not disclosed their behavior to their wives and girlfriends.
"This [campaign] is sort of harkening back to the gay community, which is associated with being white and middle-class … and it excludes, frankly, men who may be at very high risk but don't identify as being gay," said Craig Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Activist Cynthia Davis, who has labored for years to ease the stigma of HIV in the African American community, said the Gay & Lesbian Center's campaign could erase years of progress in a community that is skittish about homosexuality but at high risk for the disease.
"This is ludicrous. It's ridiculous," Davis said. "It's going backward."[/q]
so what do we think?
is this an effective campagin? socially irresponsible? perpetuating stereotypes? shocking for the sake of shock? do the ends justify the means? is this, perhaps, the kind of blunt honesty we need for particular groups to take ownership of whatever social malaise plagues their group in disproportinate numbers?
[q]HIV Ads Embrace, and Stun, Audience
By Sharon Bernstein
Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2006
For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.
But now, one of Southern California's most influential gay institutions has embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV is a gay disease."
With that message and the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and in magazines, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center says it is trying to reach legions of gay men who have become complacent about HIV and AIDS.
[q]FOR THE RECORD:
AIDS prevention ads: A Sept. 30 article in Section A said the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center had embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: "HIV is a gay disease," with the tag line "Own It. End It" on billboards and in magazines. The article should have made clear that the print ads, which appeared only in gay magazines, use all of that language; but the billboards —there are two, in West Hollywood -- say only "HIV," with the tagline, "Own it. End It."[/q]
The campaign is an abrupt departure from the years of hard politicking against the idea of AIDS as a gay plague, a characterization that many — including the Gay & Lesbian Center — had argued marginalized victims and made it hard to reach others who were at risk, including thousands of minority women who have become infected in recent years.
The ads have stunned some in the gay community and the AIDS services world, who recall the early years of the epidemic, when anti-gay clergy railed against the condition and little money was available for research or prevention.
Some AIDS counselors worry that the campaign could further stigmatize the disease, making women and heterosexual men less likely to come forward.
So much attention is being paid to minority women and others who are at risk that gay men — who still make up the majority of those infected in the United States and Western Europe — have developed a false sense of security, backers of the ads say.
The problem of AIDS apathy among gay and bisexual men is of particular concern on the West Coast, public health officials say, where the overwhelming majority of HIV transmission is among men engaging in sex with other men.
In Los Angeles County, about 75% of HIV cases are among men who have had sex with other men.
The L.A. infection count is somewhat at odds with data from other parts of the country — including several East Coast communities — where infection is spreading rapidly among women and intravenous drug users.
"A very alarming silence has descended over our community with regard to HIV and AIDS," said Lorri L. Jean, chief executive of the Gay & Lesbian Center.
"We believe that most people in our community do not understand the degree to which this epidemic continues to be in Los Angeles largely an epidemic among gay and bisexual men," she said.
The ad campaign has drawn sharp criticism from some in the trenches of the battle against HIV, particularly those who work closely with infected women.
"I applaud the desire to have more personal responsibility in the gay community, but this is not the way to achieve it," said Michael Weinstein, head of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
He said that worldwide, it is increasingly heterosexuals who have become ill.
"AIDS is not a gay disease," Weinstein said. "It's not an African American disease; it's not a Latino disease. It is a disease of the immune system."
Nationwide, gay and bisexual men account for just 45% to 50% of recent HIV transmission, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Women make up 33% of cases in New York and 27% nationwide. In Los Angeles County, women make up about 12% of the total, according to national and county health statistics, but their number has been increasing.
At particular risk are women and men in immigrant and minority communities, where many men who have had sex with other men do not consider themselves gay and have not disclosed their behavior to their wives and girlfriends.
"This [campaign] is sort of harkening back to the gay community, which is associated with being white and middle-class … and it excludes, frankly, men who may be at very high risk but don't identify as being gay," said Craig Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Activist Cynthia Davis, who has labored for years to ease the stigma of HIV in the African American community, said the Gay & Lesbian Center's campaign could erase years of progress in a community that is skittish about homosexuality but at high risk for the disease.
"This is ludicrous. It's ridiculous," Davis said. "It's going backward."[/q]
so what do we think?
is this an effective campagin? socially irresponsible? perpetuating stereotypes? shocking for the sake of shock? do the ends justify the means? is this, perhaps, the kind of blunt honesty we need for particular groups to take ownership of whatever social malaise plagues their group in disproportinate numbers?
