Attack of the Mutant HIV

Attack of the Mutant HIV

The Wockner Wire
by Rex Wockner
wockner [at] panix.com
365Gay
Retrieved: 2/23/2005

http://365gay.com/opinion/wocknerWire/wocknerWire.htm

So, this überfaggot in New York City takes crystal meth
routinely and reportedly has unprotected anal sex with hundreds
of men in recent weeks. Yes, hundreds in a matter of weeks.

And he becomes Patient Zero for what could be HIV 2.0. A
possible Gaetan Dugas for the new millennium.

This previously HIV-negative homosexual got infected with a
strain of HIV that is resistant to 19 of the 20 anti-HIV drugs
on the market, and then reportedly progressed to AIDS in a
matter of weeks.

In the language of the New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene: "A highly resistant strain of rapidly
progressive ... HIV has been diagnosed for the first time in a
New York City ... resident who had not previously undergone
antiviral drug treatment. ... The strain of three-class
antiretroviral-resistant HIV ... does not respond to three
classes of antiretroviral medication, and also appears to
greatly shorten the interval between HIV infection and the onset
of AIDS. The patient is a male in his mid-40s who reported
multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal intercourse,
often while using crystal methamphetamine. ... [T]his pattern of
drug resistance and rapid progression to AIDS may not have been
seen previously. [This strain] caused rapid onset of AIDS, which
usually occurs more than ten years after initial infection with
HIV. In this patient's case, onset of AIDS appears to have
occurred within two to three months. ..."

Health officials have begun the laughable process of
contact-tracing this homosexual's hundreds of hookups. Of
course, as The New York Times put it, he "apparently does not
know the names of all his partners." Gee, you think?

Now, it is quite possible this case may prove to be a fluke -- a
matter of genetics combined with a bizarrely unhealthy
lifestyle. Or, HIV 2.0 could be on the loose, which is the
assumption under which health officials seem to be operating.

If they're wrong this time, it's likely only a matter of time
until HIV 2.0 does arrive, given that promiscuous gay
barebacking has gotten completely out of control. I could
provide paragraphs of evidence but one factoid will suffice: The
most popular member-created chat room on very mainstream
Gay.com, day after day, is "Bareback."

There are numerous other Web sites dedicated solely to
facilitating bareback hookups, of course.

Are you a tweaked-out, barebacking, HIV-spreading homosexual?

If so, do you think it's OK to get tweaked out, cruise the Net,
find a meth party, and go raw with whomever is there?

The way I see it, the only way to live in a world that won't
self-destruct is to treat others like we'd want to be treated,
and act in ways that maximize good stuff for the greatest number
of people.

That's simple utilitarian ethics which doesn't require any God
nonsense to work.

The alternative is chaos and an increasingly messed-up,
dysfunctional planet.

Deliberately spreading a deadly virus that one carries is
essentially murder -- delayed murder but murder nonetheless.
It's like purposefully exposing someone to a lethal dose of
radiation that will kill them with cancer in a few years.

That doesn't sound like a good thing to do.

Now, I understand that life has no particular Grand Meaning and
that this can occasionally be disturbing.

I agree that American consumerism, our dominant religion, is a
piss-poor excuse to get up in the morning and can sometimes be
dispiriting.

And I agree that certain mind-altering drugs are pleasant and
can be a reasonable response, on occasion, to the shallowness of
modern life in a marketplace society.

I just ask that people inflicted with debilitating existential
angst who want to make up their own rules don't screw the rest
of us.

Be as crazy as you wanna be, but don't hurt me or others in the
process.

And please don't choose a drug like crystal meth. This drug is
so completely destructive that my tax dollars eventually will
have to save what, if anything, is left of your ass. Try
something less lethal to take the edge off of existential
absurdity.

As for HIV-negative homos who go to crystalfests and get screwed
without a rubber... It's a free country, but would you consider
getting some therapy?

No matter how crappy life is right now, it will be a lot
crappier when you have to take a pile of pills every day that
cause diarrhea and give you that sunken-face AIDS look.

The time has come for gays who aren't doing this shit to stand
up and tell the gays who are to shape up.

It's ridiculous to tolerate, enable or ignore the deliberate
transmission of HIV. It's also ridiculous, as some New York City
AIDS groups have in recent days, to spew namby-pamby
psychobabble about the problem.

There already are laws in some states that criminalize attempted
HIV transmission. We should probably support their enforcement.

But even more useful, the rest of us have to take a stand. All
of us.

When you become aware that an HIV-positive friend or
acquaintance is barebacking with people of unknown HIV status,
speak up.

And when you become aware that an HIV-negative friend or
acquaintance is barebacking with people of positive or unknown
HIV status, stop what you're doing and address it on the spot.

I've done this for years and I've yet to lose a friend or
acquaintance because of it.

That's because they know what they're doing is stupid and wrong.

The government and the police can't really fix the problem. We
have to fix it ourselves.

Starting today.

Starting with you and me.

The NFL's 'Gay' ban

Louisiana State University Theater Department Prof. Leigh
Clemons was one of New England Patriots player Randall Gay's
college teachers.

After the Patriots won the Super Bowl, Clemons went to
NFLShop.com to order herself a Randall Gay jersey. But the site
refused to cooperate.

"The NFL Shop Web site said that they weren't allowed to print
'naughty words' on jerseys," Clemons says. "I had to call the
shop and go through three levels of bureaucracy to get the
jersey."

Clemons said site employees lifted the block on the word "gay"
just long enough for her to place her order then immediately
reinstated it.

It seems so. I just attempted to replicate Leigh's order and
when I tried to print "Gay" on a jersey, the site snapped at me,
"This field should not contain a naughty word" and refused to
move to the next step.

I say we report this one to Big Media. Some reporters at The New
York Times and the Washington Post are on my mailing list. Stay
tuned.

©365Gay.com 2005

More About Rex Wockner: http://members.aol.com/wockner/