This is a question that I, as well as some of my contemporaries, have been asked in the last few weeks or so, and just like that old quip that opinions are like you-know-what's, I think everybody has their own personal take on the answer. Naturally, in regards to myself and those who like myself are either Hiv+ or have AIDS, it's an extremely good question but one that should be restated as "Why aren't we mobilizing like they did in the early years of the AIDS crisis?" I think there's more than one answer to that particular question. The ironic thing about all of this is that the answers to this question are also applicable in regards to groups and/or communities connected to and/or outside of the Hiv/AIDS world, and I'm not referring to the various battles that the overall GLBTQ community is currently fighting, such as equal rights for gay marriage and the protection of our GLTBTQ youth and the like, I'm referring to all the groups of people out there who are united together for the same exact cause.
The 1st reason why I think we have not mobilized in quite some time is simply because the world has changed so much since the early to mid 1980's. Society in general isnt the only thing that has changed and evolved in the past 25 to 30 years, so have the rest of us. Public demonstrations are very few and far between these days, having been replaced with things like petitions being circulated both online and offline as well as organizations and/or foundations being created and formed to serve the causes they represent. Gone are the days of folks not giving two shakes offa rat's ass on whether or not they get arrrested for public demonstrations and/or activities labeled as "causing civil unrest." People have never been too keen about getting arrested to begin with and nowadays most simply dont wanna run the risk of becoming incarcerated because they're either employed or seeking employment and do not wanna have some kinda "permanent mark" on their record that will count against them. Sure, to a point it is good that the majority of the general public, we GLBTQ folks included, has developed more of a consciousness in regards to our public actions and their consequences; but, by the same token, with wanting to be so careful, so "good," such sentiments are one of the key factors that actually caution people from mobilizing.
Make no mistake, this is also true for those Hiv'ers/PWA's who are currently living on disability. Even though some folks are just too sick from the side affects from their medications and/or are hospital-bound on a regular basis to do much in the way of mobilizing, it's not just their medical conditions that prevent them from doing so, but like the rest of us, they too have to cap the limits on what their bodies and minds can physically and/or mentally handle on top of what they contend with in their daily lives. This is in no way a bad thing, it simply means that people are putting their health first and hey, that's the way it always should be - take care of yourself first and then do what is within your capabilities to contribute. Quite frankly, that's just good common sense, excellent common sense if you ask me.
Of course, the above is a clear-cut example of how people's attitudes have changed and evolved over the years and again, it's notta bad thing by any means but yet another logical explanation to the question. Years ago, when folks went on disability, for those who were fairly stable on the health front, the general attitude was "Hey, I dont have to worry about that bullshit of being discriminated against or fear of getting fired anymore. Now, whenever I possibly can, I can devote my extra energies to getting out there and making a difference." And that's exactly what people did back then, Larry Kramer and Bobbi Campbell, to name a coupla folks out of a sea of many who demonstrated the tenacity of the human spirit without thinking twice. I'm not implying that the Hiv'ers of today no longer have that kind of fighting spirit but nowadays most people take a more mellow, non-commital stance when it comes to activism, after all, it definitely isnt for everyone and thats perfectly okay too.
What I feel is the 2nd main explanation is something every single one of us does have control over but something very few people out there will admit that it is becoming a growing problem within the Hiv/AIDS community - the rise of those Hiv/AIDS activists who openly and flagrantly put themselves and their own personal agendas above the importance of the Hiv/AIDS battlefronts; in other words, above the very disease they themselves are battling. Do any of you recall the times I've come out against my fellow activists in general? Well, now you all finally know the exact reason why I have done that in the past and why I will most likely continue to do it in the future too. Those activists who have adopted the "Me-First-And-Only" and/or "I'm-Bigger-Than-The-Cause" attitudes need to be stopped right in their tracks because when anyone puts themselves above the cause for which they are fighting for, it is no longer about everything good for the sake of all others but rather only what is good for the individual themselves. People who exhibit such egotism-gone-rampant airs literally impede any cause/movement of which they claim to represent.
When you take a person such as that and both support and endorse them to be on the main forefront of the AIDS epidemic, you are enabling them to continue their self-serving ways and when people like that are allowed to go unchecked and/or unaddressed by the overall group they usually end up diverting attention that should be going towards their cause to go directly towards themselves. When any activist fighting for a cause places their needs above those of the overall group, they literally become a dentrimental liability to that group and when you have people like that in your main frontline battlefronts, you impede any movement forward. More than once I've lamblasted many an Hiv/AIDS activists whose main goal is getting their pictures taken with this-n-that noteworthy person and/or group. And with good reason. They're not doing it for the public awareness of Hiv/AIDS but rather for themselves so that they may gloat and brag "See!!! I got my picture taken with him and/or her and that makes me pretty damn important!!" Dont get me wrong, public awareness is indeed one of the essential routes to getting the word out and educating others about Hiv/AIDS; but, when people attempt to glamourize this disease all for the sake of sheer human vanity then they're not only sending out a mixed message to the rest of the world, they're sending out the wrong message to the entire world. It's about things such as working to making sure that there is enough medications for everyone who is battling this disease or making sure that no one is gonna get discrimminated against employment/housing wise because they are Hiv+ and/or have AIDS. I repeat, it's not about a person as an individual, it's about everyone together as a collective whole - what about that concept is so damn difficult for some activists to mentally grasp?
Perhaps a 3rd explanation as to why the Hiv/AIDS community isnt mobilizing are the attitudes due to generational differences. In the last few weeks or so I've heard some of the younger activists state "Well, we're not like you Larry Kramer types, we don't wanna be like you guys. You had your time in the spotlight, now it's our turn." Hey, if that's a person's attitude, then knock yourself out but that right there is something some of those very same activists automatically overlook - it's not about being in the spotlight, it's about actively making a positive difference. I have an idea. Rather than focus on how different we intergenerational activists are from each other, why not shift the focus as to what things we have in common, put on our thinking caps and make something good together? Wouldnt that be so much more productive? Why I betcha we all could learn a great deal from each other, working together as a whole unit, not as allegedrival factions. After all, before we can make a positive difference by the might of our ranks, we must first unite our ranks.
Naturally, some of my critics may say "Well this is all easy for you to say these things Mr. Anonymity." Those cynics are very wrong about me because anonymous or not, it most certainly is not easy for me to write about any of the reasons why I think the Hiv/AIDS community cannot mobilize itself. In the past 21+ (22 in August) years since I was diagnosed Hiv+ I've lived through alotta crap because of this disease and it's actually quite frustratiing to see that there still is so much room for improvement after all these years. However, I've personally found that attempting to provide plausible suggestions on what can be done to correct the problems and keeping dialogue open on the issues at hand is much more productive than sweeping it under the rug and pretending that everything is hunky-dorey in Pozland.
It's funny but I didnt write this piece just for the sake of my fellow Hiv'ers and my fellow Hiv/AIDS activists, I wrote it with everyone in mind. Really. Because I feel that people across the board need to think about the probable reasons as to why the Hiv/AIDS community hasnt mobilized itself on such a grand scale as was done by activism groups such as ACT-UP back in the 1980's. Maybe in some ways it doesnt matter what those reasons are because the main focus now should be on building a new unified, mobilized front in which we all can work together as a team. I must admit though, these "Me-First-And-Only" and "Im-Bigger-Than-The-Cause" activists who are sprouting up here-n-there really do have me concerned because they're not helping the cause, they're actually hindering it. Once those people realize that we all have more to gain by working together versus promoting personal agendas, then and only then will we all be able to mobilize once again. Thank you for reading.
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