As I mentioned yesterday, Amanda Hess decided to take me up on my offer to debate me on the issue of HIV/AIDS and some of the points I raised in this post. Here is her response.

The HIV Blame Game: Let the Debate Begin

And here is my response.

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For starters, let’s take a look at the parts of the report that for some reason you neglected to acknowledge in your post.

#Among living HIV/AIDS cases in the District, the leading modes of transmission reported are MSM sexual
contact, heterosexual contact, and injection drug use with 37%, 28%, and 18% of living HIV/AIDS cases
attributable to these modes of transmission, respectively. (Page 55)

#While MSM transmission is the leading mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS among whites (78%) and Hispanics (49%), transmission in new HIV (not AIDS) cases (detailed in the 2007 Annual Report) and in newly reported AIDS cases this year demonstrate an increasing trend in the role of heterosexual contact. (Page 18)

#The most commonly reported mode of transmission among persons living with HIV/AIDS was MSM sexual contact (36.9%), followed by heterosexual contact (28.1%), and IDU (18.2%). (Page 21)

#Mode of transmission differs greatly by race; among whites, MSM sexual contact was the most commonly reported mode of transmission (77.6%), while heterosexual contact (32.8%) is the leading mode of transmission among blacks, followed closely by MSM sexual contact (27.9%) and IDU (22.3%). The leading mode of transmission among Hispanics is MSM sexual contact (49.1%), followed by heterosexual contact (28.3%). (Page 21)

#MSM is the leading mode of transmission among living HIV/AIDS cases in the District with 36.9% of cases in this category.
Heterosexual contact is the second leading mode of transmission with 28.1% of cases, followed by IDU which accounts for 18.2% of living HIV/AIDS cases. (Page 23)

In our e-mail exchange, I gave you the full opportunity to look at everything I have written on the topic of “homosexuality” and “AIDS“. If you would have done so, you would have discovered that while I have been very critical of the homosexual’s role in this issue, I have also been very critical of heterosexuals who willingly ignore all the warnings regarding risky sexual behavior.

Back in August of last year, I highlighted a report issued by the International Journal of STD & AIDS. Among its many findings “…condom use was lowest in African Americans and Hispanic men, bisexual men reported the highest levels of use, with heterosexual men reporting the lowest use. African Americans and Hispanic men reported generally that it was very difficult to use a condom during sexual contact, although the patterns for self-identified homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual men varied across race/ethnicity.” On the flip side, both this report and one issued out by the CDC last year also found that “…the primary transmission category was sexual contact with other men”(Of all Black men living with HIV/AIDS). So just as there are those in the heterosexual community who have ignored the warnings of sex without a condom, the same goes for the homosexual community.

My contention with the homosexual community is that for the most part, they have regulated themselves to the type of sexual behavior that leads to the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases.  As you pointed out, while the heterosexual cases of HIV/AIDS has gone up, there is no indication in this latest report or any other major study out there that the HIV/AIDS cases found in the homosexual community has gone down. Despite all the increase of testing and education, infection rates among both groups are going up, not down.

Now, let’s take a look at some of your comments directly.

“And second, that stepping up HIV/AIDS education efforts in the District would be both fruitless and condescending, because “folks know EXACTLY how this is caused, yet they consistently choose to do the wrong thing.” That “wrong thing” goes back to Black Informant’s number one—gay sex.”

Risky sexual behavior is the cause behind this jump, not “gay sex” as you are calling it. If a person chooses not to use a condom, that is a risk. If a person chooses to ingest fecal matter during sex (rimming), that is a risk. If a person chooses to engage in anal sex (never mind the fact that according to the CDC, condoms are more likely to break during this type of intercourse), that is a risk. While these and other forms of intercourse can also be found in the heterosexual community, as I said earlier the homosexual community regulates itself to these risks. But don’t just take my word for it.

Johann Hari, journalist and writer who is also openly gay wrote the following recently for the Huffington Post.

Some doctors have tried to warn against this narcoleptic response. HIV physician Dr James Braun warned a recent Retrovirus conference that the transmission of treatment-resistant HIV is “a disaster waiting to happen.” But the refusal to listen, the determination to keep on barebackin’, shouldn’t surprise us. The gay community is facing a string of HIV crises – and we are hitting the snooze button on all of them.

The culture of safe sex that emerged in the wake of the first AIDS crisis – when the disease scythed through gay communities in near-apocalyptic numbers – has now melted away. A British survey of over 14,000 gay men in 2003 found nearly 60 percent had unprotected anal sex in the past year. Barebacking has become an accepted subculture. Check out the darkroom of any club and you’ll find condomless sex. Click into the chatroom of any pick-up site and there are men – both HIV-positive and negative – advertising for “raw” sex. (more…)

“If D.C. residents think—like Black Informant does—that AIDS is a disease for homosexuals and sexual deviants, they’re less likely to be tested, and they’re more likely to pass the virus on to their partners.”

I challenged you to a honest and fair debate on this issue and this is clearly a foul ball on your part. The comment or assessment you mention has NEVER been made by me. Quote me exactly or don’t quote me at all.

Finally, let’s go back to something you said earlier in another post.

“HIV/AIDS is everybody’s problem.”

For those of us in society who not only understand the importance of practicing safe sex, but actually abide by those guidelines, HIV/AIDS is not a problem. It is only a problem for those who live by the rule “If it feels good, do it”, all the while expecting society at large to foot the bill for their bad choices. That applies to both homosexuals and heterosexuals. But as I contend in both this post and my previous one, the homosexual community, by definition has regulated itself to high risk sexual behavior and should stop hiding behind what the heterosexual community is or isn’t doing. As far as “blaming” goes, you can start with the people who know how to avoid STDs, yet insist on doing the total opposite.