I Am Tired of World AIDS Day!

I am tired of World AIDS Day.  I am tired of watching friends get sick and die.  I am tired of listening to small talk about meds and side effects and t-cell counts.  I am tired of hearing about the latest "not quite cure".  I am tired of watching drug companies spin AIDS as the new Diabetes.  I am tired of seeing more and more bareback videos pop up online. I am tired of seeing the AIDS Quilt and having to bring extra tissues because of the flood of tears it causes for me and my friends.

I am tired!  When are we going to find a cure?  When are gay men and the ephemeral "MSMs" going to listen to the message that unsafe sex is UNSAFE!  When is World AIDS Day going to stop being a big trade show for drug companies and start being a time to look back and be grateful that the disease is no longer around.

Can you hear the frustration in my voice? 

I still wear my red ribbon in honor the memory of my brothers and sisters who have fallen to this pandemic, but I would like to retire it.  I would like to see it gather dust on a shelf.  Maybe some day that dream can come true.

Until then, I will continue to support the many organizations that desperately need funds and volunteers to fight the epidemic.  I will continue to emphasize the importance of safer-sex and I will continue to remind the next generation that AIDS/HIV is not just a disease of the Baby Boomers, it is alive and spreading through Gen-X and Y and beyond.

Until then I will continue to pray that an end is in sight.