I'll admit it. I'm a city boy. I escaped suburban Central Florida for Chicago (and the occasional trips to New York). The luxuries of a major metropolitan city are endless — from food to fashion, from hot night spots to leading healthcare. But not every city or state for that matter has a Boystown or Hell's Kitchen, and many gays and lesbians in these areas face exponentially more stigmas and problems than their urban counterparts.
Montana used to just be that big, almost rectangular rural state near Canada with no connection to me. That is until I met my roommate and best friend, whose family lives in the Treasure State. Suddenly, I'm connected and notice articles like Monday's story in the Billings Gazette about gays and HIV.
On Oct. 1, Montana enacted a state law that physicians and health care officials must offer an HIV test to all patients, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation, in an effort to address the upward trend of AIDS, HIV and hepatitis C cases in the state over the past 20 years. So far this year, there's been 27 new HIV cases. The most frequent mode of exposure to HIV and AIDS is men who have sex with men.
In the article, Laurie Kops, supervisor of Montana's Department of Health's HIV/STD programs, said, "Men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs have a lot of labels attached to them, and, for that population, walking into a physician's office to get tested is difficult."
No one would argue the need to curb the rise of AIDS and HIV in Montana or any other area of the country. And yet, the communication — or lack thereof — around HIV and AIDS and the LGBT community contributes to the growing problem. Why, even here in Chicago, responsible gay and lesbian women may feel too embarrassed to ask their Michigan Ave. physician for HIV testing and instead either quickly retreat to Howard Brown's free testing clinic near Boystown or forgo the treatment at all. And that's in the third largest city in America!
While I applaud the state for providing an avenue for LGBT people to receiving testing without having to request it, the larger issue is a paradigm shift in how HIV testing is perceived and treated by the broader community. Even in the above article, gay men being tested for HIV are linked in a quote to drug addicts who are shooting up. And yes, while both of these groups should get tested (as should all other communities), there is not a direct correlation between being gay, being an addict and contracting HIV.
Montana's street clinic efforts are meeting individuals too scared to walk through a set of clinic doors on the street. And while its reaching an invisible population in need of testing, it must equally be addressing the issues within the broader community, by educating citizens and healthcare officials about the need for HIV testing, the way it is contracted and transferred, and the importance of serving this community.
Breaking through the stigma is not easy and will take time. Much like breaking the stereotypes or about the LGBT community, HIV-positive individuals must bravely come out and live openly with friends and families — friends and families must serve as advocates at their sides.
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