|
|
Article: Keep the bathhouses, lose the shame: the problems of increasing HIV infection and rampant crystal use among gay men are intertwined, argues PATRICK MOORE, so they need to be attacked in tandem. The first steps are to combat the self-loathing attached to gay sexuality and to reach out to sexually active gay men where they meet.(Commentary)(Column)
- Article from:
- The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)
- Article date:
- August 17, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Regent Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
After enduring decades of devastation, the gay community is now witnessing a new generation of young men becoming infected with HIV, seemingly oblivious to the death and suffering that they might have escaped. We also see middle aged gay men, having survived HIV thus far, endangering both themselves and others with unsafe sex. We are told that this phenomenon is largely the result of a new crisis: crystal meth addiction. But crystal abuse is only one symptom of a malady called self loathing, which feeds on the denial, separatism, sexual repression, and untreated grief that now permeate gay life in America.
It is no coincidence that gay crystal use began to expand ...