December 1st of every year has been declared the World AIDS Day. Commemoration events are taking place worldwide.
It hurts to see how the ignorance of the Reagan-era United States government and its policies - which, for a long time, dismissed AIDS as a "gay problem" (never mind that lesbian sex is the safest sex when it comes to AIDS) - has resulted in a disaster for many people of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are hardly any twentysomethings and thirtysomethings left. And the face of the average sub-Saharan African AIDS patient is that of a straight woman, with children.
There are promising signs of cure popping up here and there, and I sincerely hope that they become affordable enough for anyone in the world to take advantage of. So many lives have been destroyed by AIDS and the pathetic response by various governments.
It is also time to examine the culture of forced promiscuity and sexuality in sub-Saharan Africa that is contributing to the spread of AIDS, and the resulting mass deaths.
I've seen AIDS patients as a hospital volunteer, and they were an absolutely horrible sight; I will not talk about the weird infections and other horrors I've seen on them. This must be stopped. This is NOT the time to talk about sex and morals; this is time to find a cure, prevent HIV spread, and educate people accurately.
I hope for the best.
