Last night’s Channel 4 News featured an extraordinary live interview with a Catholic anti-condom campaigner.
It’s obvious that condoms do prevent the spread of HIV. That has been proved in the gay community. In some US cities almost 50% of black gay men are HIV+ and that is because the condom message hasn’t got through to that community for various reasons. One being the macho culture that sees a request for a condom as being a personal slur. Which is a bit of idiocy that many of us have been faced with at one time or another…
Obviously not having sex is the way to avoid any risk, just as never leaving the house is the best way to avoid ever being run over by a bus. But abstinence isn’t an option for many people or even a choice for women in some societies.
There is even a good argument for continuing to use condoms in a ‘monogamous’ relationship, as many are anything but.
I see that some anti-condom commentators point to the number of pregnancies that occur despite condoms being used. But it takes just one sperm to cause pregnancy, whereas a much greater quantity is needed to cause HIV. That means, when used properly, a condom is extremely effective in preventing HIV.
Yes it’s true that sometimes condoms aren’t used properly and that’s one reason why I’m so concerned about our ‘binge drinking’ society and the fact that the gay scene centres so much around bars and clubs and on getting ‘bladdered’. Alcohol is often implicated in HIV infections and I have too many friends who have made mistakes while drunk. So, in Britain, let’s tackle the reasons behind that.
But it’s wicked and immoral to send out an anti-condom message.
How many more millions of Africans have to become HIV+ with no prospect of any treatment? How many more children with no mum or dad?
Holocaust deniers get prosecuted in some countries. Maybe condom deniers should be too?