Stigmatizing People Living With HIV/AIDS in New York City

December 15, 2010

Stigmatizing People Living With HIV/AIDS in New York City

I should preface this post by saying that I work in the HIV/AIDS sector in Ontario, Canada, where identifying HIV-stigma and preventing it is part of my job. After nearly half a year in this position, I'm now picking up on a lot of very little things -- a word here, a sentence there -- that I might not have previously recognized as a possible cause of discrimination or stigmatization against those live with HIV/AIDS.

But you don't need to work in the HIV/AIDS sector to find the problems with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's newest public service announcement, "It's Never Just HIV." And that's because it's pretty much universally offensive.

Though the intentions of the video are to raise the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among young men who have sex with men, the end result is that the video stigmatizes and alienates people with the disease and creates an overwhelming sense of fear for those who do not have it.

I could tell you how much I hate it, but I don't know if there is enough time in the world, so let's look at a few other opinions. How about the official word from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay Men's Health Crisis? The two organizations sent out a joint press release this week condemning the ad. They also called for its termination. Here are some highlights from the media blast:

The PSA, which is intended to encourage condom usage among gay and bisexual men, claims that those with HIV face a higher risk of bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer. While older adults living with HIV may be at greater risk of these conditions, the PSA creates a grim picture of what it is like to live with HIV that could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men.

"We know from our longstanding HIV prevention work that portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive," said Marjorie Hill, PhD, GMHC's Chief Executive Officer. "Studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective. Including gay men's input, while recognizing their strength and resiliency, in the creation of HIV prevention education is effective. Gay men are part of the prevention solution, not the problem."

From the very beginning of the epidemic, gay men have been developing courageous and innovative solutions to reducing HIV, often lending their prevention activism to communities of color and heterosexual people. GMHC and GLAAD realize there is still a pressing need for safer sex education and that HIV and AIDS are still pressing public health issues. Yet the educational material must avoid perpetuating damaging, hurtful stigmas that harm gay and bisexual men.