Show I I AIDS be wary of seduction Terry Dillion Dillon Contributing Writer T THE HE national AIDS crisis is swiftly turning into a massive I IQ I.Q. Q test on a pass fail tem If you are in d denial about your behavior behavior behavior be be- havior or if you are not streetwise savvy thoroughly knowledgeable about human relations relations relations rela rela- plus a bit skeptical chances are that you will be catching AIDS pretty soon Sex is not sex immoral x is dangerous The I evil is the way we lie to ourselves about what we do For example if you are confused about exactly how AIDS is transmitted dont don't feel all alone Some of the reasons stated for transmission transmission transmission sion are unbelievable Epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control cautiously list these claims even while covertly knowing that the allegations are probably fabricated Some professional types cite ghosts from the much distant too distant past because they cannot admit they've had needles in their arms Some men try to blame it on female prostitutes with whom condoms were used rather than admit to even a single drunken and unprotected homosexual encounter AIDS babies are being born because their mothers cannot admit to themselves that their drug habits or their husbands' husbands high risk behaviors have forever denied them the ethical right to bear children If you think this sounds outrageous better ask yourself about your own denial How long do you wait walt before going to bed with someone How well do you know them really How much of your own sexual behavior Is compulsive sive If you are a woman who stays together with a combative or and/or untrustworthy male just because you cant live without him maybe you'd better think again Being married is no insurance against AIDS Sherry Merrill of the Utah AIDS Foundation told students at the May 14 panel that even in so-called so monogamy that avows fidelity between an uninfected couple there is a 40 failure rate What this means in other words is that you may have a 4 in 10 chance that your spouse will engage in marital extra-marital relationships that put you both at risk The odds vary in direct proportion to your own inner state of denial In 1986 when condoms were still believed to be safe for preventing AIDS I found out what being skeptical and streetwise means I Iwas Iwas Iwas was very attracted to a man I knew little about except that he was charming sophisticated and seductive He tried very persuasively to get me to agree to sex with him using a condom condom condom con con- dom for protection He was patient with me over a period of three months during which I declined because of a nagging doubt Finally one evening after wed we'd been drinking together he became demanding When I said flatly that I would not make love using a condom or any other way until he gave me the results of a blood test he became ame enraged He grabbed my face and spat copious amounts of saliva into my mouth before I broke away from him and left a. a The next time I heard from him he was phoning me from jail to come bail him out He had been picked up late at night for a minor sexual offense he committed on 3rd South and Main Street He turned out to be a compulsive t sive sex addict who had been diagnosed positive tive five with AIDS since 1984 J What What-I I got from this experience is that I J I have inside do voice that you myself too a 1 tells me how to protect myself If I 1 ignore that voice or if I make excuses or rationalizations to cover its message then I am on the verge of 0 disaster If you let seductive charm and your libido or recreational drug use turn you stupid you are going to flunk the IQ I.Q. test If you are a parent so moralistic and out of touch with your own sexuality that you cannot discuss this topic with your children you are putting them at risk by ignorance Up until now we can honestly say that people have contracted HIV innocently and unknowingly But there is a saying that applies here What you resist persists AIDS could truly stop spreading and go away forever if we would all stop resisting the responsibility for its presence |