December 1, 2008

  • Facing AIDS on World AIDS Day 2008



    Today marks the 20th anniversary of     World AIDS day. The theme this year is leadership along with the slogan "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise."  Since adult movies often portray (and in the process arguably promote) unsafe sex, on this day, I usually feel a responsibility to blog about this cause.



    While a great deal of progress has been made in fighting the deadly disease, it is important to remember,     there is still no cure.
    Even though AIDS is not talked about as much anymore, it's still
    lurking out there and in fact infection rates may be on the rise. It is
    more important than ever to learn about the virus and practice safe
    sex.



    It's estimated that about 33 million people around the world are
    currently living with HIV or AIDS. Last year, 2.7 million people were
    newly infected and approximately 2 million died from the disease. For
    more statistics about HIV and AIDS see     this page.
    Although reminding ourselves about these numbers admittedly is a
    serious downer, every December 1st need not be all depressing. The good
    news is, World AIDS Day and similar events raise awareness of the
    problem, help educate people on prevention and reduce the unfortunate
    public stigma that still surrounds the disease. This stigma is
    especially prevalent among teens, who often tend to be homophobic and
    sexually insecure.



    A good starting place to learn more about HIV & AIDS is the     AIDS.gov website.
    This site is a virtual goldmine of information about HIV and AIDS
    sponsored by Uncle Sam. Don't worry, it's not as dry as the lovely IRS
    site and covers all kinds of AIDS related topics from prevention and
    testing to obtaining funding for research. And if you are on MySpace,
    add the AIDS.gov website as a "friend" to help spread awareness. While
    you are it, take a moment to add the "    Drugs & HIV" page as a friend as well. Learn about the link between drug abuse and the spread of HIV in the USA.



    One of the neat ideas for reducing the public stigma challenge
    mentioned above this year is the "Facing AIDS" campaign aimed at social
    networks and Blogs. The idea is to urge others to "face" the AIDS
    epidemic while at the same time putting an actual faces to supporters
    of the cause from all over the world on personal web pages.



    It's easy to participate. From the     AIDS.gov blog:

    Quote:


    STEP 1: Take a photo of yourself wearing a red ribbon. No camera or time to take a photo? Instead, you can select one of our web badges (or any other red ribbon image).

    STEP 2: Add the photo (or badge) to your social network
    profiles, Twitter, and/or blog in time for World AIDS Day. Leave it up
    for at least one week. Don’t have a profile in any of these places? No
    problem! You can go directly to Step 3.

    STEP 3: Add your photo to the “World AIDS Day 08” Flickr group! If you tag the photo with your geographic location, together we can make a map and album of supporters around the world.

    STEP 4: Use your wall, status, tweets or website to
    encourage HIV testing. To find an HIV testing site near you (in the
    U.S.), send a text message with your ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948) or
    visit: http://www.hivtest.org.

    STEP 5: Encourage your friends to do the same and to promote HIV testing!


    In case anyone is wondering, adult performers are all tested regularly for the HIV virus and other STDs in Porn Valley.  At least once a month male and female talent alike go to the AIM clinic or a similar testing facility and are given the test results.  Without a "clean bill of health" to present on the set to the director and whoever they are paired with as a co-star, the shoot will not proceed.  Although this system is not perfect, to date very few people have contracted HIV in the adult entertainment industry.  In the rare instances where it did occur, the circumstances were highly unusual.

    Have fun, but be safe, get tested and be informed!

    -- Snowman