I’d read Sullivan’s article in The Advocate but hadn’t realized it was he that wrote it. But in retrospect I think it makes total sense now. Go read Sully’s article and then read Michael’s rebuttal, Dear Bareback Andy:
You’re glamorizing illness, for your own selfish reasons, for your own ego… It’s funny because you link to everything you write, making sure your fans can get every bit of Andrew Sullivan. But this column, directed squarely at the gay audience in the Advocate – and particularly at all those horrible negative people – seems to have gotten overlooked… Hey, if you are really so secure and proud of your HIV infection, you might even link to this open letter of mine too, so your conservative Republican fans could see how supposedly ridiculous I’m being. But I bet you won’t.
Discussion on Metafilter as well.
I used to read Sullivan regularly and even read his book Love Undetectable which had some great points but was way too soaked in Catholic guilt. And his blog template has always annoyed the shit out of me.
To say that HIV is no big deal to the younger generation seems really irresponsible. I’m not saying that HIV+ people should go around flogging their own victimization a la Angels in America but that to ignore the global impact of AIDS is a little shortsighted. Maybe for those in developed countries with access to medical care, early detection, treatment regimens and the cash to pay for those drugs HIV can become a ‘maintenance’-type illness, you cannot ignore that the virus is decimating entire generations in Africa. But as I’ve always said:
It is all good and fun until rich white kids start dying.
Further: Hey lesbians – do you get tired of all the shirtless men on the cover of The Advocate? Always seems like they either a) feature some straight actor who is going gay and include a breathless aticle that always includes the question "What do you think of your gay following?" or b) pecs, abs and other symbols of male beauty (obsession).
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