February 25, 1995 | IEVELS of hOMOPHOBIA | Repulsion: Homosexuality is seen as a ‘sickness, a sin, or a crime’. Anything is | _ justified to change ‘those people’ (eg. prison, hospitalization, negative behavior therapy, including shock therapy). Kinny... Woes Ir 2 NUKE PME LOOK fT Pity: Heterosexual chauvinism. Heterosexuality is assumed to be more mature and certainly to be preferred. Any possibility of becoming straight should be reinforced and those who seem to be born ‘that way’ should be pitied... *the poor + dears...”. Tolerance: Homosexuality is viewed as just a phase of adolescent development _ that many people go through and most lesbian, gay and bisexual people are seen _ as less mature than straights and treated with the protectiveness and indulgence i. one uses with a child. This belief implies lesbians, gays and bisexuals should not F be given positions of authority because they are still working through adolescent ee Ce Me ee oe behaviours. Acceptance: Still implies that there is something to accept, characterized by such statements as “You are not gay to me; you’re a person”. “What you do in bed is your own business”. “That’s fine as long as you don’t flaunt it”. Not to mention the famous, “We love you anyway”. This ignores the pain of invisibility and the stress of closet behavior. “Flaunt” usually means say or do anything that _ makes people aware. It also denies the social and legal realities with which les- _ bian, gay and bisexual people live. IEVELS of pOSITIVE aTTITUDE Support: Works to safeguard the rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Aware of the climate and irrational unfairness of attitudes and realities. Admiration: Acknowledges that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual in our society takes strength. Willing to truly look at themselves and work on their own homophobic attitudes. Appreciation: Values the diversity of people and sees lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons as a valid part of that diversity. Willing to work towards combating - homophobia in themselves and others. Nurturance: Assumes that lesbian, gay and bisexual people are indispensable in our society. Views lesbian, gay and bisexual people with genuine affection and delight and are willing to be lesbian, gay and bisexual advocates. alDS: tODAY Heterosexism: Gender bias towards gay community by Tammy Coombes Although gay culture is popular culture, homophobia is still rampant with in soceity. Generally, two women together is accepted, however two men together is more intimidating. A gay male couple is a direct threat to a patriarchal system; they are apart, yet within. They don’t adhere to thenor- mal male standards and so create an im- balance which threatens to disrupt the system. A lesbian couple doesn’t seem to pose the same threat to a patriarchal system as two men do because they are seen as having little wealth or power. When two women are seen being intimate with each other, whether holding hands or hug- ging, it is trivialized; also lesbians are often sexualized. Govern- ment contrib- utes to homophobia with anti-gay legislation, such as an adoption law which gives legal rights to only one of the parents, or their refusal to change the definition of a family to include same-sex couples. Whether gay or lesbian, the threat of some sort of re- jection or violence is a reality. Homophobia is often ex- pressed through gay bashings; six or seven occur every week in Vancouver’s West End. aND tOMMOROW Setting up basic pro- grams in Asia would only cost between 750 million and 1.5 billion U.S. [a fraction of the money now spent on the U.S. military]. These pro- grams might prevent approx. 5 million new infections by the turn of the century. The strategies to prevent a vast AIDS epidemic there, are the same ones that have worked elsewhere: teaching people how to avoid catching the virus sexually, largely through condom promotion, and treating [virus spreading] venereal diseases. A major impediment is the unwilling- ness of some governments to acknowledge that AIDS is a problem. Activists have asked people with HIV and AIDS in the west to show solidarity and refuse taking offered drugs or participating in drug trials unless these drugs and trials are available to everyone at a rea- sonable cost. And now the good news! The rate of infection here in the west has leveled off. People with AIDS are living a few years longer on aver- age. Last year, following extensive sur- veys of HIV positive people, the term Long Term Non-Progressors (LTNP) was created, describing the lucky 6-9% of persons with HIV who demonstrate: (1) seropositivity for over 10 years (2) a CD4 count consistently over 500 and not declining (3) an asymptomatic state of infection and (4) no history of use of antiretroviral (AZT etc.) therapy. The “why” to all this remains un- known, but viral strain differences and inherent genetic factors are high on the list of possibilities. These surveys are important for several reasons: They lay to rest the false statement that HIV is an invariably fatal disease, give peace of mind to those who are LTNP’s and give hope to the majority who are not. It is even possible than within a group of people infected between 1988 and 1990, a larger percentege than ever be- fore will be LTNP’s. Anal, vaginal intercourse and I.V. drug use are the highest risk activities. I also believe homophobia, a fear and intolerence of gay and lesbians, is a contributor to the spread of this virus. What can we all do to make a dif- ference? The most important thing to do is to not get in- fected. Creative inventive and erotic safe sex practices. How about teaching your partner to apply a condom to you with their mouth? Have I piqued your interest ? We must Accept peoples differences. Finally, support people living with HIV and AIDS in their struggle for basic human rights, Here in Vancouver, the Vancouver Persons with Aids Society is proposing a Na- tional Catastrophic Disability Program, which will provide adequate income security and maintain quality of life for per- sons with diagnosed cata- strophic illnesses. In their discussion pa- per they state that by provid- ing adequate income security, the taxpayer will actually save money because people living on or below the poverty line use hospi- tals ( $ 1100/day ) more often due to their isolation and substandard housing. Poor people die faster and spend far more time in hospital than those with higher incomes. Think about it! People living with HIV and AIDS do not want people to feel sorry for them, on the contrary, they want people to accept them and to stand up and fight for their rights. Gordon is a member of the Treatment Information Project: Vancouver Per- sons with Aids Society. He is a contribu- tor to the Positive Living Manual and Managing Your Health, National Edi- tion.