Essay 1154

From The Los Angeles Times…

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For 20 years, gay men have vigorously fought the contention that HIV is a disease of homosexuals.

But now, one of Southern California’s most influential gay institutions has embarked on a controversial ad campaign with this stark declaration: “HIV is a gay disease.”

With that message and the tag line “Own It. End It” on billboards and in magazines, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center says it is trying to reach legions of gay men who have become complacent about HIV and AIDS.

The campaign is an abrupt departure from the years of hard politicking against the idea of AIDS as a gay plague, a characterization that many — including the Gay & Lesbian Center — had argued marginalized victims and made it hard to reach others who were at risk, including thousands of minority women who have become infected in recent years.

The ads have stunned some in the gay community and the AIDS services world, who recall the early years of the epidemic, when anti-gay clergy railed against the condition and little money was available for research or prevention.

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