- From Alan Cantwell, MD
- to
- Michael in San Francisco
-
- I asked Michael, a good friend of mine and a gay activist
who has had AIDS for over 2 decades -- and who is aware of the writings/books
on the subject of AIDS as a man-made disease -- why gay men and gay leaders
in the community are so reluctant to get involved in research pointing
to AIDS as a deliberate ATTACK on the gay community -- and tracing back
to the gay hepatitis B experiments which DIRECTLY PRECEDED the outbreak
of AIDS, beginning in 1979 in New York City -- and at a time when AIDS
was unknown in Africa.
-
- QUESTION: As you are a Person With AIDS (PWA) , can you
explain to me why the gay community and its "leaders" are brain-dead
on this issue of man-made AIDS?
-
- Alan,
-
- The world has changed very much in 20 years or more since
AIDS first hit.
-
- Many guys do not remember when AIDS was a kiler. The
public health problem now is that so many guys think that it is sexy to
become postive and are bug chasers . I have had guys contact me who want
me to infect them. Gay activists are now concerned with barebacking and
Crystal Meth which is rampant in SF.
-
- Poeple are concerned with the immediate problems of the
present and coping with those problems which are immense. I have been on
two HIV councils for the Public Health Dept in SF. I can tell you from
personal experience that we can barely keep up with the problems in the
present rather than looking back into the past.
-
- Now, in coping with the fascist takeover in the USA,
I seriously doubt if any gay leaders will have the time to even think about
the past.
-
- Those of us who have survived the intial period of the
AIDS epidemic are now aging and have both the problems of aging, the long
term effects of HIV medications , sometimes deep depressions that make
it too hard to even think about the past.
-
- Everyone is just trying to cope with the problems of
the present and to escape those problems, whenever possible. The younger
generation of gay men do not see HIV as a problem. They see it as something
you might just have to take a pill , just like a vitamin as the ads show.,
and are just out to have fun.
-
- Keep up your work Alan, but do not be discouraged when
it attracts no attention. Maybe years after you have gone, some gay archivist
will find your material and start an historical exploration of what happened.
-
- Hugs.
- Michael
-
- (additional notes from Michael)
-
- On further reflection , I realized that I had seen AND
THE BAND PLAYED on again last month. I really had forgtten what the early
days of the AIDS epidemic were like.
-
- That is the main answer to your question. It is was a
horrifying experience to live through and guys just do not want to go back
to that place. I did buy the DVD of ANGELS IN AMERICA last month and had
some friends over for some food and an all day viewing of the 6 hour movie.
One guy had to leave after one hour. It just got him too upset to be reminded
of this stuff.
-
- So I repeat. GUYS JUST DO NOT WANT TO REMEMBER THE EARLY
DAYS OF THE AIDS EPIDEMIC and have shut their minds to reliving that painful
experience. Memories trigger bio chemical brain changes that strongly affect
the way that poeple feel. People are just protecting themselves.
-
- Just leave enough work behind you so that future historians
will have material to work with . Try to learn to accept the probable
fact that in your lifetime, gay men are not going to be ready to look back.
-
- Michael
-
- In a message dated 11/12/04 10:48:50 PM Pacific Standard
Time,
- alancantwell@sbcglobal.net writes:
-
- I greatly appreciate your thoughts. May I share them
with
- others....with or w/o your name???
-
- Yes, of course you may share them, using my name as you
please, and keep on leaving artifacts around so that future gay historians
will have source material.
-
- Michael
-
- A final note from me to Michael:
-
- Dear Michael:
-
- Thank you for your incisive thoughts and evaluation of
the subject most dear to my heart.
- I know how quickly people forget things......and it is
hard to believe that the origin of AIDS in America is now one-quarter century
ago.
-
- But I think we should remember the words of George Santayana
(1883-1952) who said:
-
- "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it."
-
- For some (soul?) reason, the origin of AIDS is my personal
obsession (perhaps because as a gay man I and my partner miraculously escaped
infection) -- along with my second lifelong obsession and belief that cancer
is caused by bacteria that are easily visible microscopically. Tracing
the "cause" of AIDS to gay experimentation, and the "cause"
of cancer to infection just seems to be terribly important to me for the
health and well-being of humanity.
-
- I guess these are my two "crosses" (as an Irishman
you know what that means).
- At any rate, I guess we all do what we have to do.......I
will never give up on this......altho you are probably right about all
this being "ancient history" so to speak.......but nevertheless,
I consider these issues as a key to the future survival of many, and as
a way that gay people can perhaps be redeemed a bit in the mind of the
public, much like the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust redeemed them
in the eyes of many.
-
- I know that my cosmic mission (that sounds a bit grandiose,
but I know we all have a mission) is to be a pioneer -- and as the late
Oscar-winner coke-head Julia Phillips ("E.T.", "You'll Never
Eat Lunch in this Town Again") was fond of saying: "If you want
to try something that sucks, try pioneering. It has nothing to recommend
it."
-
- I greatly appreciate your thoughts. May I share them
with others....with or w/o your name???
-
- (response)
-
- Yes, of course you may share them, using my name as you
please, and keep on leaving artifacts around so that future gay historians
will have source material.
-
- Michael
-
- Thanks again,
- Alan
-
- Please forward to interested others............
-
- For more information on this subject of man-made AIDS,
please go to
- www.aidsbiowar.com
- also www.google.com
- type in:
- "alan cantwell" + man-made AIDS (646 citations
to various web pages)
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