Melder's Musings

Andrew Sullivan says having HIV is good.

While listening to the radio this afternoon, something very disturbing came to my attention. A well-known conservative (who just happens to be gay) is encouraging gay men to become HIV positive.

Andrew Sullivan, former editor of The New Republic, has a regular column in The Advocate, a news magazine for the GLBT community. In his latest Advocate column, Sullivan lists why HIV is such a good thing for him and why others should have it, too. Some of his more outlandish points follow:

• "It’s been almost 12 years since I became infected with HIV, and I haven’t died yet. I haven’t even had the decency to get sick. I am a walking, talking advertisement for why HIV seems not such a big deal to the younger generation—and indeed, many in my own age bracket.""HIV transformed my life, made me a better and braver writer, prompted me to write the first big book pushing marriage rights, got me to take better care of my health, improved my sex life, and deepened my spirituality."
• "I’ve even enjoyed sex more since I became positive—more depth, more intimacy, more appreciation of life itself...I look physically and mentally healthier than ever."
• "I have helped persuade them by my very existence that HIV isn’t such a curse, that it can be survived, that it can be treated effectively, that you can live well and long with HIV if you look after yourself and stay alert and informed."
• "My CD4 count remained virtually unchanged, and only recently have I had to go back on meds. Five pills once a day. No side effects to speak of."
• "But the bottom line is that HIV is fast becoming another diabetes.You can see the symptoms. Far fewer gay men are dying of AIDS anymore. Sometimes local gay papers have no AIDS obits for weeks on end."

What Sullivan doesn't tell you is that he got the disease by engaging in unprotected sex. He also doesn't tell you that his salary and health insurance pay for medication that most HIV+ patients can't afford. He doesn't tell you that the five-pill-a-day cocktail doesn't work in all patients, especially women. In that column he goes on to blast people and programs that attempt to teach the practice of safe sex...the very people attempting to keep others healthy while Sullivan extoles the virtues of self-infection.

See the column for yourself. Go to The Advocate online and click on "current article" (issue #942).

Why am I upset? That's simple. I have diabetes. Much like HIV (or any chronic illness), it's extremely expensive to properly treat. While my sickness is probably not my fault, there are things I could have done in my adolescent years to stave it off. It has made me take better care of myself, but that's certainly no reason to encourage it on others (as Sullivan does). No matter how well I care for myself, I'm still likely to die some 20 years sooner than I otherwise would. Am I healthier than I was ten years ago? Yes. Should you do all the unhealthy things that may cause diabetes so you can get healthier, too? Absolutely not.

Attitudes like Sullivan's are disgusting at best. They're murderous at worst.