WillNever
Valued Senior Member
This topic of this thread is the controversial origin of AIDS in America and the intrigue surrounding it. For years, gay sex and the gay lifestyle were held responsible for the proliferation of the AIDS virus in North America and for its transmission into the heterosexual population. One gay journalist in particular, Randy Shilts, in 1987 published a book titled And the Band Played On in which he undertook the ambitious task of chronicling the series of events that, in his opinion, led to the spread of HIV in USA, starting with the initial outbreak in the San Francisco gay bathhouses in the 1970's. The book became quite famous before Shilts himself died from AIDS.
In his book, Shilts, who quickly became disliked by many gays for his seemingly traitorous exposure of the darker aspects of gay life in the 1980's, zeroes in on one man in particular, who, with the help of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shilts discovers to be the "lowest common denominator of all sexual partners" in all the cases of AIDS during that period. Every AIDS victim of the time had either had sex with this man or had sex with someone else who did. The man, who Shilts suggests is responsible for rapidly spreading HIV in America, was quickly revealed to be an almost psychopathic acting, gay, French Canadian flight attendant. His name was Gaetan Dugas, and he is popularly attributed with introducing HIV into America. Today, he is commonly referred to as "Patient Zero."
This man, Patient Zero, was known for having WAY too many sexual partners on several different continents. He was alleged to have had sex with literally hundreds of partners each year, 2500 in his whole life. Furthermore, he continued to have unprotected sex long after his first disease symptoms appeared, and in private interviews with physicians stated "If I have gay cancer, why shouldn't everyone else?" For a fascinating yet disturbing interview with Shilts (now dead from AIDS) and physicians and gay acquaintances who had personal interactions with Dugas, and to see the study which led to Dugas as Patient Zero, check this out.
However, a couple years ago a new theory about the origin of HIV emerged: a small group of Haitian immigrants who brought the virus to the USA in the 1960's and received blood transfusions here were responsible. This theory was put forth by a small group of university scientists who discovered what they believed was HIV in some stored blood samples from several decades ago. Today, this theory is commonly cited as explaining the source of HIV in America, while Patient Zero is held responsible for its rapid spread in the gay community. How it was transmitted from Haitian immigrants to Dugas is not clear and therefore limits this theory's usefulness.
Some questions for the discussion: do you believe that it matters who introduced or spread HIV in the USA? If so, should the theory about Haitians in any way indemnify gays from criticism of their alleged lascivious lifestyle..? Which theory do you believe..? And do you believe the prevailing theory will change any time soon..? Use this thread to comment and question on the origin of HIV in the USA.
In his book, Shilts, who quickly became disliked by many gays for his seemingly traitorous exposure of the darker aspects of gay life in the 1980's, zeroes in on one man in particular, who, with the help of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shilts discovers to be the "lowest common denominator of all sexual partners" in all the cases of AIDS during that period. Every AIDS victim of the time had either had sex with this man or had sex with someone else who did. The man, who Shilts suggests is responsible for rapidly spreading HIV in America, was quickly revealed to be an almost psychopathic acting, gay, French Canadian flight attendant. His name was Gaetan Dugas, and he is popularly attributed with introducing HIV into America. Today, he is commonly referred to as "Patient Zero."
This man, Patient Zero, was known for having WAY too many sexual partners on several different continents. He was alleged to have had sex with literally hundreds of partners each year, 2500 in his whole life. Furthermore, he continued to have unprotected sex long after his first disease symptoms appeared, and in private interviews with physicians stated "If I have gay cancer, why shouldn't everyone else?" For a fascinating yet disturbing interview with Shilts (now dead from AIDS) and physicians and gay acquaintances who had personal interactions with Dugas, and to see the study which led to Dugas as Patient Zero, check this out.
However, a couple years ago a new theory about the origin of HIV emerged: a small group of Haitian immigrants who brought the virus to the USA in the 1960's and received blood transfusions here were responsible. This theory was put forth by a small group of university scientists who discovered what they believed was HIV in some stored blood samples from several decades ago. Today, this theory is commonly cited as explaining the source of HIV in America, while Patient Zero is held responsible for its rapid spread in the gay community. How it was transmitted from Haitian immigrants to Dugas is not clear and therefore limits this theory's usefulness.
Some questions for the discussion: do you believe that it matters who introduced or spread HIV in the USA? If so, should the theory about Haitians in any way indemnify gays from criticism of their alleged lascivious lifestyle..? Which theory do you believe..? And do you believe the prevailing theory will change any time soon..? Use this thread to comment and question on the origin of HIV in the USA.
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