It's World AIDS Day although if you were watching the Prime Minsiter's Questions earlier you could be forgiven from not knowing as there was a distinct lack of red ribbons on the government front and back benches (lots on the Labour benches). All the usual mantras are everywhere and a little bit later I'll post a second 'podcast' of my thought on World AIDS Day and barebacking.In the meantime, Edwin J Bernard reminds us on his blog of the over-zealous nature of the criminal law in other parts of the world - particularly Canada. He writes:
'A judge in Quebec has remanded a 32 year-old gay man in custody after the Crown prosecutor branded him a "danger to the public" following allegations that he did not disclose that he was HIV-positive with men he met for sex on the Internet using the pseudonym bbackbottom31.'
On a day of preaching, lets also pause and realise how the law is translating that preaching in parts of the world - it is criminalising people like this latest 32 year old. Read the full blogpost here.
These type of draconian witch-hunts against HIV positive people help no-one. For people who may be positive but are unaware of their status, actually finding out can cause more trouble than it may be worth.
In fact there is a growing number of people who actively chose not to discover their status and consensually agree not to share it with their partner. Maybe it's about time the right not to know should be respected and understood?
If you chose to have consensual sex regardless of barrier methods used or not used - (which are never 100% effective) then you also accept the risk that you could get infected with something. People need to take responsibility for their choices
I was also surprised Chris at the lack of coverage yesterday for World AIDs Day. I put a link up on Facebook, which wasn't 'liked' or commented upon (but this is a side point). I saw nothing in the newspapers about it (I didn't read the Guardian) and nothing on tv. Shocking...
There was a bit on TV Sean and on radio so there was some stuff. David - I think you make some compelling arguments!
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