In fact, nobody even knows you're here
1987 1987-10Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 16 →
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could "more than double" if mandatory test measures are put into effect.
Testing plans add to hysteria Mandatory testing with no assurances of confidentiality would put AIDS victims in the negative spotlight. Currently in ti country, the vast majority of peor suffering from AIDS are gay men and intravenous drug users. The proposals for "routine" testing only serve to whip up more hysteria against drug users and especially against gays-already the targets of discrimination.
Unfortunately, in the minds of many people, all gays are AIDS carriers. Instead of aiming their fire at the AIDS virus, these reactionary elements would rather use the epidemic as an excuse to launch a moral crusade against sexual freedom and democratic rights. Mandatory testing, they hope, will lay the groundwork for even more drastic measures against gays, such as a quarantine.
Gay men and lesbians have come under ever-increasing pressure since the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. They have been denied jobs and housing. And now, insurance companies are denying coverage to "potential" AIDS victims. The insurance industry often refuses to write policies for single men or for men designating male friends as beneficiaries.
In a recent survey by the American Council of Life Insurers and the Health Insurance Association of America, 91 percent of companies said they consider an AIDS-infected applicant "uninsurable" at any price.
Human needs before profits!
Mandatory AIDS testing is a flimsy substitute for genuine measures to deal with the AIDS epidemic—a way of dodging what really should be done.
Rather than having scientific resources and brainpower scattered all over the world in competition, scientists should be brought together to combine their efforts and share their discoveries. The cure for AIDS should not be "exclusively" owned by any one drug company. It belongs to all of humanity.
And though the federal government is spending $446 million on AIDS research this year, this sum is not even a drop in the bucket when compared to the military budget.
Continued mass actions demanding free medical care, more money for AIDS research and education, and no mandatory testing must go on. In this day and age, finding a cure for AIDS is not beyond our reach. It is simply a question of priorities-human needs before profit.