Suffering from a disease is taxing by itself. And it is even more so when supplemented by excess emotional baggage like social stigmatization and discrimination. Feeling extra terrible at an already terrible time is something you wouldnt wish even on your greatest enemy. Anyhow, this is an experience common to HIV Jewish community NYC.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the viral strain that leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome at its advanced stage. Usually, it is transmitted through contact with body fluids that are infected. However, there are also perinatal cases where the mother transmits the virus to her fetus during pregnancy.
Stigmatization has always been a given thing with AIDS. This taboo is as old as the disease itself. On its first significant outbreak, it was referred to by a popular media outlet as a new kind of cancer. The term caught on and before long, a considerable portion of the masses was calling it gay cancer. Thats only the discrimination suffered by infected persons in the general sense. Now, lets take it up a notch and talk about the stigmatization theyre accorded by religion.
A common oversimplification of a disease of this magnitude is that it is something that homosexuals primarily incur. Its a topic for another day, but the LGBTQ minority is one that is universally not accepted in most major religions. Of course, there are sympathetic subsets in every group, but there is no single denomination where conservatives and all out hate groups dont exist. Therefore, AIDS is something thats perceived in most religions as rightful punishment for sinful conduct.
That drags the normalization of the situation a long way back. In New York, it is reported that there are dentists who refuse to treat persons infected with the virus. Similarly, there are hospitals that single out HIV positive patients by putting biohazard stickers on their bedsteads. Thats on the same groove with stigmatization, no matter how you look at it.
During the peak years of the stigma crisis, most mainstream synagogues failed to respond to the situation. There is no central and collectively accepted authority on HIV association and groups in the Jewish community. Its little wonder how discrimination is rife.
Certain individuals took up the mantle by themselves and formed the first gay synagogues where they are free to address the issues that are unique to their group. Now, there is a New York City based group that holds leadership training and seminars on HIV awareness. The program discusses the risks and prevention of AIDS, and the stigma undergone by its sufferers.
It goes without saying that the Jewish community in NYC is taking baby strides towards normalization. Of course, this normalization is not about accepting AIDS as a way of life, but of accepting its sufferers back into the fold. Greater sympathy and knowledge of its effects will gradually bring us closer to its complete prevention, maybe cure.
A fitting rallying cry is one introduced by yet another Jewish group. It states that silence equates to death and action equates to life. This pretty much sums up how being aware, informed, and proactive can consequently save a life.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the viral strain that leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome at its advanced stage. Usually, it is transmitted through contact with body fluids that are infected. However, there are also perinatal cases where the mother transmits the virus to her fetus during pregnancy.
Stigmatization has always been a given thing with AIDS. This taboo is as old as the disease itself. On its first significant outbreak, it was referred to by a popular media outlet as a new kind of cancer. The term caught on and before long, a considerable portion of the masses was calling it gay cancer. Thats only the discrimination suffered by infected persons in the general sense. Now, lets take it up a notch and talk about the stigmatization theyre accorded by religion.
A common oversimplification of a disease of this magnitude is that it is something that homosexuals primarily incur. Its a topic for another day, but the LGBTQ minority is one that is universally not accepted in most major religions. Of course, there are sympathetic subsets in every group, but there is no single denomination where conservatives and all out hate groups dont exist. Therefore, AIDS is something thats perceived in most religions as rightful punishment for sinful conduct.
That drags the normalization of the situation a long way back. In New York, it is reported that there are dentists who refuse to treat persons infected with the virus. Similarly, there are hospitals that single out HIV positive patients by putting biohazard stickers on their bedsteads. Thats on the same groove with stigmatization, no matter how you look at it.
During the peak years of the stigma crisis, most mainstream synagogues failed to respond to the situation. There is no central and collectively accepted authority on HIV association and groups in the Jewish community. Its little wonder how discrimination is rife.
Certain individuals took up the mantle by themselves and formed the first gay synagogues where they are free to address the issues that are unique to their group. Now, there is a New York City based group that holds leadership training and seminars on HIV awareness. The program discusses the risks and prevention of AIDS, and the stigma undergone by its sufferers.
It goes without saying that the Jewish community in NYC is taking baby strides towards normalization. Of course, this normalization is not about accepting AIDS as a way of life, but of accepting its sufferers back into the fold. Greater sympathy and knowledge of its effects will gradually bring us closer to its complete prevention, maybe cure.
A fitting rallying cry is one introduced by yet another Jewish group. It states that silence equates to death and action equates to life. This pretty much sums up how being aware, informed, and proactive can consequently save a life.
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