Male Sex Workers Spreading HIV On Purpose....for revenge?

[bcohen7719]

Strange story.....

 

BC

 

http://identitykenya.com/index.php/daily-news/240-are-male-sex-workers-in-kenya-spreading-hiv-on-purpose

[Rick Munroe]

What a sensationalist thread, BC. The article is about an anonymous person (whose name is changed to "John") who claims to be doing this in Kenya.

 

In other news, young mothers are killing their kids and then going out partying. Oh wait, that was just Casey Anthony.

[+ Lucky]

I'm with Rick on this one. It's a sensationalist thread as well as a lazy one. Two words and a link. Lazy. Maybe BCohen should work for a tabloid.

[bigvalboy]

I am with the two members above...I clicked on thinking that perhaps there would be a story with depth and of interest. What we find is a thread that is indeed "sensationalist" to say the least..I find it disturbing...

[Boner]

What a sensationalist thread, BC. The article is about an anonymous person (whose name is changed to "John") who claims to be doing this in Kenya.

 

Well, sensationalist perhaps for North American and other well-developed nations, but maybe not so crazy and sensational for poor, young, Kenyan men seemingly trapped in the sex industry with little, and often-times, no access to HIV medications. It wasn't so long ago, here, where some gay men were (and still are) purposely infecting themselves with HIV over remorse of surviving the plaque days when friends and lovers did not. Some still do simply out out defiance from being told what they should and should not do.

 

I suspect the mindsets and realities of many poor, young, Kenyan men are somewhat different from young men of more developed nations and until full access to HIV medications becomes a reality for all people in all nations - these type behaviors, stigmas, and fears will probably continue to manifest themselves into the poor and stigmatized young people of these countries.

[bcohen7719]

Well, sensationalist perhaps for North American and other well-developed nations, but maybe not so crazy and sensational for poor, young, Kenyan men seemingly trapped in the sex industry with little, and often-times, no access to HIV medications. It wasn't so long ago, here, where some gay men were (and still are) purposely infecting themselves with HIV over remorse of surviving the plaque days when friends and lovers did not. Some still do simply out out defiance from being told what they should and should not do.

 

I suspect the mindsets and realities of many poor, young, Kenyan men are somewhat different from young men of more developed nations and until full access to HIV medications becomes a reality for all people in all nations - these type behaviors, stigmas, and fears will probably continue to manifest themselves into the poor and stigmatized young people of these countries.

 

Outstanding, almost anthropological insights. Many thanks for explicating these

difficult-to-undertand issues.

 

BC

[Rick Munroe]

Well, sensationalist perhaps for North American and other well-developed nations, but maybe not so crazy and sensational for poor, young, Kenyan men

 

That was my point. Putting aside the fact that the story is based on just one anonymous person, BC did not mention Kenya at all in his thread title or 2-word post. His sensationalist title makes it sound like a global phenomenon. It's a provocative, "gotcha!" posting style.

 

And...if one were to want to seriously discuss the issue, why not post this other story from the same website, about HIV-positive male sex workers in Kenya who are being trained as peer educators to help stop the spread of HIV? http://identitykenya.com/index.php/homepage/featured/216-male-sex-workers-living-with-hiv-to-train-as-peer-educators

[Boner]

That was my point. Putting aside the fact that the story is based on just one anonymous person, BC did not mention Kenya at all in his thread title or 2-word post. His sensationalist title makes it sound like a global phenomenon. It's a provocative, "gotcha!" posting style.

 

I don't know how much importance and detail anyone here should put in post titles to deem them legitimate. Most post titles here suggest and reflect - not much. In the early days of HIV/AIDS it took the brave and self-less people of Act-UP, disrupting public transit, disrupting and stopping Catholic Church Services on Sundays to the horror of the church and events similiar to that to get peoples attention to the crisis.

 

If it takes, as you say, a sensationalist post title to draw the attention of just one reader to this still unresolved crisis, then I say good for bcohen. If you remember - Silence=Death. Every voice, headline, news-scroll, whatever, should be viewed as positive exposure to this crisis, no matter how unbalanced or familiar to past postings might be from this poster.

 

And...if one were to want to seriously discuss the issue, why not post this other story from the same website, about HIV-positive male sex workers in Kenya who are being trained as peer educators to help stop the spread of HIV? http://identitykenya.com/index.php/homepage/featured/216-male-sex-workers-living-with-hiv-to-train-as-peer-educators

 

I honestly can't answer that question, Rick. But IT ALL STARTED by getting the attention of others.

[Rick Munroe]

If it takes, as you say, a sensationalist post title to draw the attention of just one reader to this still unresolved crisis, then I say good for bcohen. If you remember - Silence=Death. Every voice, headline, news-scroll, whatever, should be viewed as positive exposure to this crisis, no matter how unbalanced or familiar to past postings might be from this poster.

 

Then again, like with the National Enquirer, they may have true stories now and then, but nobody takes them seriously because of their bad reputation.

[Boner]

Then again, like with the National Enquirer, they may have true stories now and then, but nobody takes them seriously because of their bad reputation.

 

If you want to make HIV/AIDS in Kenya a National Enquirer style story because of the author here, or because the article was from an anonymous sex-worker named John, then your counter-complaint link to what is actually being done to resolve this in Kenya is equally flawed and fake as well.

 

You're an anonymous sex worker named Rick Munroe. How different and credible are you from the the Kenya sex-worker named John?

 

You can't have it both ways.

 

Personally, I find it horrific that any gay man would even attempt to silence, what they don't know, about such a deadly past and presence, in a hemisphere which they probably have little to no connection with - yet have absolute knowledge of the fact that the available HIV/AIDS drugs to reverse this reality for the people in that region is inadequate in most cases at best and none to many, at worst.

 

If you question the validity and reality of this story going on in Kenya, the best you should do is not compare it to a Rag-style, gossip tattler like The Enquirer. Don't people's struggles deserve better?

[Rick Munroe]

If you question the validity and reality of this story going on in Kenya, the best you should do is not compare it to a Rag-style, gossip tattler like The Enquirer. Don't people's struggles deserve better?

 

LOL I was referring to bcohen's propensity to use sensationalized thread titles. You knew that. Have a good night.

[Boner]

LOL I was referring to bcohen's propensity to use sensationalized thread titles. You knew that. Have a good night.

 

I actually interpreted your response differently. Had I not, I wouldn't have wasted my time responding.