Posted on 06/12/2007 9:02:49 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
On many nights, in the back rooms of bars, community centers and church meeting halls around the city, George Perez sits around a platter of cold cuts with perhaps a dozen other men to talk about sex.
While the conversation is often explicit — even lascivious — these gatherings are deadly serious. Some 25 years after the AIDS epidemic began, Perez, an 18-year veteran counselor with the Metropolitan Health District, tries to help the other men at the table understand why they're risking their own health — and the health of others — through unsafe sex practices.
"If my need right now is a 20 (dollar) bag of cocaine, HIV is not even an issue," Perez said. "However I have to get that, I'm going to get it. That need is greater."
While HIV cases have remained relatively steady, health officials here and across the country are worried that a sharp rise in syphilis, which is easily curable if detected, could fuel an increase in HIV and AIDS, which are not.
Syphilis rates have risen in recent years, in contrast to the beginning of the decade when the bacterial disease reached its lowest levels ever recorded and public health officials expressed cautious hope it could be eradicated.
In San Antonio, health officials have redoubled efforts to track down partners of those who test positive for syphilis, offer testing and counseling in bars, drug havens and the jail, and encourage safer sex practices. Perez leads intensive behavior modification classes.
"A disturbing trend is that many of our (syphilis) cases we're seeing here and also nationwide are amongst co-infected people — people who are also HIV positive," said Scott Salo, who oversees the outreach programs for the health district. "That's disturbing because they're now putting people at risk for HIV as well...
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Call for Hillary Rodham Clinton!
somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but i thought the gay activists had pressed successfully to ban partner tracing of HIV and AIDS due to discrimination concerns?
Yep, here we are 25 years later, and AIDS is still a big problem. And it’s still largely spread by certain specific behaviors. Which means that AIDS infections could be cut significantly if people avoid those behaviors.
Which means that AIDS infections could be cut significantly if people avoid those behaviors.
...veteran counselor with the Metropolitan Health District, tries to help the other men at the table understand why they’re risking their own health — and the health of others — through unsafe sex practices.
&&&
Well, I seriously doubt that there is a need to make them understand the risks. Unless a person has not watched TV over the last 20 years, it is impossible for him to not have learned of the risks. The real accomplishment would be to make these humanoids care, which, of course, is not too likely.
Insurance acturians will tell you that people with emotional problems tend to drink more, abuse drugs, continue destructive and risky behavior, have a high risk of committing suicide and thus a shorter life span than normal people. Homosexuals have similar stats. Ask anyone in the life insurance business, they knew this for a long time. My opinion, homosexuality is a mental and emotional disorder and unhealthy. If smoking is not encouraged on medical and health reasons, why is homosexuality promoted?
Homosexuality is an unsafe sex practice.
Later pingout.
In the wake of the brouhaha over Dr. Holsinger's paper re: anal sex, I have learned that it is politically incorrect to suggest that anal sex and homosexuality are anything but natural and healthy. Apparently homosexuality no longer wishes to be tolerated; it must be affirmed. To that end, they are attempting to abridge free speech so that saying anything against homosexuality is considered hate speech. It is already that way in the MSM. The MSM goes out of its way to portray homosexuality as a wholesome lifestyle.
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