At the end of 1982 I read an article in the UK's 'Observer' newspaper. It described a gay man whose partner was dying of a painful and mysterious disease.
Over the next few weeks the gay press was full of stories about a possible 'gay cancer'. Apparently gay men were being afflicted with something - no one really knew what was going on.
By early 1983 the acronym AIDS entered our lives. It stood for either Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immuno-Deficient Syndrome. All three expressions were used. But no one knew what caused it.
Also in 1983 gay organisations started to produce education material that advised gay men to "avoid the direct exchange of bodily fluids". It was pretty vague but it was a start. And, as was to be the hallmark of the AIDS issue, it was always the gay community who took the initiative.
Of course the absence of a scientific explanation left the door open for the Bible-bashers to come in with their silly theories of 'God's judgement on homosexuals' and so forth. The fact that 80% of the global AIDS population were heterosexual ('straight' or 'non-gay' or whatever) was conveniently forgotten in the rush to make moral capital out of other people's suffering.
This gay link was made worse by scientists who looked at aspects of 'the gay lifestyle' as possible causes. For example, when semen was injected into the bloodstream of a mouse, it's immune system dropped. So this was mooted as evidence that gay men getting semen into their blood stream was the cause of AIDS. The fact that gay and non-gay people had been getting semen into their bloodstreams for thousands of years was, again, conveniently ignored.
Then there was the theory that gay men's use of 'poppers' - amyl and butyl nitrates - was the cause. And if gay men with AIDS claimed they didn't use poppers then we simply didn't believe them.
And the real old chestnut - 'promiscuity'. "Promiscuity causes AIDS". This was still being promoted at an International AIDS Conference in New Delhi in 1993!
What the hell is 'promiscuity'? In real terms someone is promiscuous if they're having more sex than you are. There's no scientific basis for such a moralistic term. Nonetheless, these quasi-scientific theories gave the religious zealots their ammunition.
Then, of course, there was the media. Rupert Murdoch's newspapers invented the term "Gay plague" and "Gay bug" when reporting AIDS. Sensationalist and insensitive would be the best thing you could say about their coverage. Homophobia rules.
Wouldn't it be embarrassing and terribly hypocritical if one of Rupert's kids (say, for the sake of argument, Lachlan) turned out to be gay?
So in 1983 I was involved in setting up Gay East Midlands in Nottingham, England. We ran quite a few stories on AIDS (and were attacked by 'gay community leaders' for doing so. Apparently we were scaring the horses.)
I was also doing a Master's Degree in Social Work so I did my dissertation on "AIDS As A Social Work Issue". Initially, the Head of Department rejected the idea because 'AIDS is a medical issue, not a social work one'. Needless to say, I got him to change his mind.
From then on in I was on the slippery slope to Hell!
In the UK I was involved in establishing the Terrence Higgins Trust in London in 1984, then Nottingham AIDS Information Project in 1985.
In 1987 I arrived in Australia and worked as a Social Worker at Australia's biggest AIDS Unit - St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. Whilst there I set up the Maitraya Day Centre - Australia's first day centre for people with AIDS. Of course, 'community politics' raised its ugly head and I eventually left social work - vowing never to return to AIDS work again.
God I'm a slow learner!
My next job was in AIDS education and then finally I got to be the AIDS Coordinator for the South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service. This Area has the largest HIV/AIDS population in Australia (as well as the largest population of Australia's HIV/AIDS medical super-egos).
God, I am a slow learner!
HIV/AIDS Projects That I'm Particularly Proud Of
Nonetheless, I did manage to kick a few goals - particularly in the field of HIV/AIDS education. The areas in which I take particular pride are listed below - click on the heading to get more information: