Show AIDS is everybody's disease Terry Dillon Nicki Boodrookas Contributing Writers O ONE NE point the experts at the AIDS teleconference teleconference teleconference ference were able to agree upon is there Isa is isa isa a lot of denial and erroneous information going around about AIDS and it has deadly consequences Kristen Ries MD of Holy Cross Hospital Salt Lake informed the audience that some people who test positive for HIV HIV HIV- the AIDS virus are not telling their sex partners the news She says this is n not t because they are bad people j but they are in denial about what they have II After being rejected for sharing the truth three times in a row even carriers who admit the truth to themselves will be fearful of another rejection added Ries Ultimately it is up to each of us as individuals individuals individuals in in- to take responsibility for our own health We cannot blame our partners when we get infected Instead we we must actively find out what is in store for us before we get sexually involved We HWe cannot help falling in love nor can we choose with whom we will be in love because love is not rational said Ries Someone with AIDS cannot guarantee he or she will only fall for someone else who has it Likewise people who are not yet infected cannot guarantee that the persons they are about to sleep with do not have AIDS just because they haven't said it III Getting tested together is the only responsible responsible responsible sible measure these days If the tests come comeback comeback comeback back negative for one partner and positive for forthe forthe forthe the other penetration must b be excluded from the sex act Condoms do pose a slight risk because the virus is tinier than occasional microscopic holes in the latex Sheep skin condoms offer no protective barrier to the virus at all Speakers addressed society's apparent apparent apparent ap ap- parent lack o of f compassion and understanding for those who already already already al al- ready have the AIDS virus Elizabeth Ross Kubler-Ross MD Mn internationally renowned authority on death and dying noted author author- and psychiatrist says there is no safe sex in her opinion She says she has AIDS patients who were infected while practicing practicing practicing ing safer forms of sex including oral sex Still she says there is no substitute for sex Ross Kubler-Ross used her cigarette smoking habit to draw an analogy for what happens when individuals are told what not to do In her case she feels the urge to smoke twice as much like the worst out acting-out teenager She explains that when society tries to enforce restrictions on behavior the tendency is for individuals to go into obnoxious overdrive or more dangerously into the closet of denial and secrecy Restrictions must be imposed from within the individual to be effective Ross Kubler-Ross further pointed to the widespread problem of incest in our country including here in Utah and in Virginia where she lives When an overwhelming drive such as sex is made to be morally and socially unacceptable unacceptable unacceptable unac unac- by an oppressive social system people will have the tendency to escape into even more unacceptable forms of sexual behavior behavior behavior be be- havior such as child molestation just so it can be kept secret In addition to pointing out the dangers of AIDS and the need for precautions all speakers addressed society's apparent lack of compassion and understanding for those who already have the AIDS virus Ross Kubler-Ross described how an entire comm community unity attacked her when she opened a farm for children with AIDS They threw rocks through windows tried to burn her farm down and labeled her as the lady I Y who wanted to import AIDS into the r community Ross Kubler-Ross said We have to change our religion our basic beliefs and realize that weare we weare weare are all brothers and sisters and if we do not learn to love each other and understand each other we will be in a terrible state This is not just a homosexual disease not just a re drug disease this I Is everybody's disease She was supported by a new campaign from America Responds to AIDS Their slogan says If you want to know what a person with AIDS looks like look in the mirror |