The Wisdom of Whores

New HIV-infections among gay men are rising everywhere they are measured, with the sole apparent exception of Sydney. That’s in part because Sydney has not dropped the ball (and the budget) on prevention. It hasn’t swallowed the “Treatment IS Prevention” mantra that seems to be behind the rise in many other places.

If we want treatment to work as effective prevention, we need to do more to indentify cases soon after infection. That means doctors knowing their patients may be at risk for HIV, which in many countries means knowing if their patients are gay. I’ve written before about doctors’ squeamishness about sexual history-taking, and I think gay men, drug injectors and sex workers might want to let on to their doctors that they are gay. But reading this excellent post from Ickaprick, I can see why people don’t want to, at least in Canada.

The most interesting thing for me about the post (read it, do) is the stereo-type swapping. You want freedom of religion, so that you can deny me freedom of choice over my sexuality. Make anyone out there think about the voting patterns behind Prop 8?