Is HIV not a major hetero issue?

[Rett]

I was just watching one of the major news talk shows this evening and one of the guests was discussing that he did not think HIV/Aids was a major issue in responsible non-monogamy.

There have been news articles in the last 10 years that have also stated such beliefs and a book published saying that HIV is mainly an issue in the gay community and drug users. That the reason for the HIV warnining to the general public was for awarness and support .

An article published by a group called Liberated Christians in 1994 that also states their belief on this issue - saying how slim a chance heterosexuals have in getting HIV.

Read the article and relate whether you agree with it from your knowledge or experiences.

The artilcle is found HERE

[2neophytes]

I've heard similar things, but in regards to AIDS in general. It is not all the media hypes it up to be.

About research: if you look hard enough, one can find sources to back up anything.

I have a friend whose heterosexual father died from AIDS three years ago. He had leukemia and contracted the disease through a blood transfusion.

Just because an article purports HIV not to be a major risk among heterosexuals doesn't mean one shouldn't take precautions.

My 2 cents

2N

[De and Ci]

[i] He had leukemia and contracted the disease through a blood transfusion.


2N [/B]

I believe the issue is contracting HIV through heterosexual contact. I had a brother who died of AIDS, he was gay. But does anybody here know of anybody who has contracted HIV through strictly heterosexual acts? I've known several people who contracted it as a result of gay sex and one as a result of a transfusion. But I do not know or know of a single person who got it through straight sex. I suspect the HIV fears have been largely exagerrated. I may be wrong but haven't been convinced by any anecdotal evidence.

[Elusive BiFem]

Yes, I've known some who were heterosexual and contracted HIV. Part of the issue is exactly what we are talking about here and the prevailing attitudes that it is primarily a disease of homosexuals. Because of the "gay" stigma attached to the disease, it is often not reported as such in the hetero communities.

Now, that being said, I wonder too if it the threat wasn't blown out of proportion somewhat. I'm not going to go live in a glass bubble out of fear, but I am going to approach things with far more caution than I would have 25 years ago. Until it is proven one way or the other...it just doesn't seem like a pleasant way to die, IMHO.

Another thing...so someone contracts the disease through a blood transfusion. OK. But then he/she goes home and passes the virus on to 5 other people who then pass to 5 others and so on. Is that heterosexual transmission or transfusion transmission? Maybe not the original transmission, but the others would be in my book. So yeah, I would think that we could be talking about that sort of transmission, too.

- EBF

[De and Ci]

Originally posted by Elusive BiFem
Yes, I've known some who were heterosexual and contracted HIV.

Are you positive? Did you know them personally-not a "friend of a friend", they didn't do drugs intravenously? A little man action on the side? Don't mean to sound rude-But I've been doing my own research on HIV since around the time my brother died back in '91. From everything I've read-in the absence of an open sore or something, its extraordinarily difficult for a man to get it from a women, very difficult like 1 in 2000 for a woman. In the few heterosexual cases where the medical authority didn't rely solely on the word of the patient (usually they blame a prostitute) Almost all of the subjects fessed-upped to doing drugs or a little male booty. There have always been rumors about Magic being gay-I heard them before he made the big announcement. He has everything to lose if he admitted to any gay stuff. Do a Google on Magic Johnson and Hiv if you want more info.

As for us-we use condomes-no so much cause of HIV-but the other nasty stuff thats out there

[VegasLee]

Yes, you can get HIV from hetro sex. It is not near as common as in the gay community or with drug users but it can happen.

It is happening right now in the California porn business that is all but shut down for the next 60 or more days.

http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary...ntent_ID=82667

That is the latest article.

[Chicup]

Originally posted by VegasLee
Yes, you can get HIV from hetro sex. It is not near as common as in the gay community or with drug users but it can happen.

It is happening right now in the California porn business that is all but shut down for the next 60 or more days.

http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary...ntent_ID=82667

That is the latest article.

Was anal sex involved?

Hetro anal is as 'bad' as homo anal for HIV.

On the other hand its hard to get vaginaly.

[2neophytes]

People claim to be straight and this, that or the other, but how can anyone truly know? Don't mean to get epistemological here.

Here's an analogy: Gary Ridgeway, the Green River killer spent years picking up prostitues, murdering them, dumping their bodies, and then returning days later for a little necrophilia, all the while carrying on a job AND a marriage! Imagine what his wife thought when she found out. BTW dear, I'm a serial killer and I like to fuck dead girls.

I know it's a crazy analogy, but if someone can draw an analogy between attending public hangings and swinging, I can make this one.

How well do any of us really know what other people are up to?

2N

[Elusive BiFem]

I've known a couple of people personally, and no...I don't know beyond any doubt they didn't do drugs or "a little man action on the side" but I would seriously doubt that. Others that I have known have been patients. And as said...in one particular case I recall very well, the initial cause was traced to a blood transfusion during cardiac surgery with later infection of the spouse. He died sometime later. She remarried not knowing she had HIV until well into the marriage. Sad case. Again, in this particular case I would most seriously doubt any other mode of transmission. Other patients? I don't know for sure, but generally, when people are on the verge of dying, I have found them to be quite honest.

But see? You just confirmed what I said earlier. People are fearful of admitting to HIV because others immediately assume the link between drug use and/or gay sex - both of which carry stigma in our society. Even here on this board...get to talking about male bi-sexuality and the fur can start flying.

A large number of those with HIV eventually die of pneumonia or other opportunistic infections. Those are the causes we see on death certifcates - not AIDS or HIV. In fact, a few years ago, there was a study done by some major univerisity - can't recall the name right off hand - but the goal of the study was an attempt to determine the true cause of death of many whose death certificates listed something other than HIV. Don't recall all the details, but it was significant enough to allow for some substantial federal funding.

Again...until proven unequivocally that there is no danger, I will continue to make certain alterations in my behaviors.

- EBF

[De and Ci]

I'm not saying there is no danger, and good points about not knowing if that guy is bi. That is true. I was assuming anal wasn't in the equation. I've been following the porn case-that is sad. I am most interested to see how that pans out. Hope they give us all the details. Exactly how he got it, other diseases facilitate the spread, so on. Remember a porn star is an exteme example. However it looks like the industy's strict testing program is paying off. From what I know, a hetero swinger, no drugs, transfustion or anal, is more likely to die of a lightning strike than from Aids.

[2neophytes]

Social stigma is pretty powerful at controlling the masses.

2N

[Elusive BiFem]

Thank you, 2neophytes. I was feeling like a lone duck or something.

And yeah, it is...as evidenced by stigam attached to mental illness, alcoholism, domestic violence, etc. We tend to run from what we are unfamiliar with which makes it all the worse.

Appreciate your comment!
- EBF

[EternallySingle]

Social stigma? The fear of physical violence aside, being labled a "slut" is the reason most women are not more sexually expressive, let alone active.

What scares me about this is I know of two men, brothers, who got HIV through heterosexual contact. They were in my band and, after a show in St. Louis, they had sex with a married woman. Turned out the woman contracted HIV from her husband who was a heroin addict. And they passed it on to at least four other women.

Why should they have known or thought to be tested? It was 1986 and most cases of AIDS and HIV were restricted mainly to homosexuals an IV Drug users. Given the fact that this woman had no needle tracks, there was no reason for them to think her husband was a drug user. They also saw no reason to get tested until Jim got pneumonia and died. The doctors didn't even think to test for HIV until his brother got gravely ill the next week.

[leftcoastcouple]

Originally posted by EternallySingle
Why should they have known or thought to be tested? It was 1986 and most cases of AIDS and HIV were restricted mainly to homosexuals an IV Drug users. Given the fact that this woman had no needle tracks, there was no reason for them to think her husband was a drug user. They also saw no reason to get tested until Jim got pneumonia and died. The doctors didn't even think to test for HIV until his brother got gravely ill the next week.

But as you increase the number of sexual partners, of course, the risk rises exponentially.

The first guy we ever played with, right about the time EternalllySingle states, was a player by any definition of the word. He'd had, by his and our estimate combined, probably 500-600 sexual partners in his relatively short life. They were all female, but you never knew where each one of them (or their partners) had been, of course.

Yet, at that time, even knowing what we knew about him, we were far more concerned about contracting herpes or plain old clap from him than HIV. It just didn't seem like a concern for straight, non-IV drug-using folks back then, remember?

As time went by, we got worried about all of his escapades and what it might have meant for us. Even after we'd been tested several years later, we had a lingering desire to make sure he was OK, just for our peace of mind.

It's primarily for that reason that we think twice about HIV exposure as we prepare to re-enter swinging. We know the numbers among those other than gay men are relatively low. But there's always a risk, and one case is enough to think it could be you if you play. That we both despise condoms and would much rather play without them makes us stop and think about our priorities, too.

Oh, to live back in the 60s, when all you had to worry about was a shot at the health department if you chose the wrong partner...

[De and Ci]

A lot of it is the shame of getting hiv, Dale Earnhart was in a very dangerous lifestyle-but he's considered virtually a hero. Auto racing is a very glamorous lifestyle, no one looks down on him for living so dangerously-nor does anyone think its punishment from God. Catching HIV-regardless of how unlikely-carries a large stigma-"thats what you get for making those filthy porn movies!", God is punishing you!