Is It A Crime? A Look At HIV Criminalization in U.S.

Brooklyn native Nushawn J. Williams was informed that he had HIV in 1996.  Despite this, he was determined by health officials to have had sex with up to 75 partners.  By his own unabashed admission, he actually slept with 300 women.  He did not use protection in these encounters and caused an outbreak of HIV in upstate New York. [i]  His youngest partner was 13 years old.[ii]  By 1998, two of his partners had given birth to HIV-positive children.[iii]     His case was one of the earliest involving HIV status disclosure and Nushawn became the poster child for HIV criminalization.

When you hear stories like this, the question of whether to criminalize HIV exposure seems like a no-brainer.  Legislators apparently agreed; Williams’ case was cited in a number legal proposals, including requiring states to keep registries of HIV-positive residents and making it a felony not to disclose one’s positive status to sexual partners.[iv]   

As of 2008, 34 states in the US have laws that allow prosecution for criminal HIV exposure.  The provisions of these laws vary widely by state and by the context of exposure.  In New Jersey, for example, someone who knows he or she is HIV-positive and has sex without a partner’s informed consent is guilty of a third-degree crime.  This offense can be punished by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.  In states such as California and Alaska, being HIV-positive can be an aggravating factor in sexual offenses.[v]

Those who argue against HIV criminalization often claim that mandating disclosure for individuals with HIV violates their right to privacy.  Additionally, it can increase the stigma associated with the virus.  Such laws therefore infringe on the civil rights of the HIV-positive person.[vi]  

William Brawner was born with HIV and had developed AIDS by the time he was in college.  Described as a ladies’ man, he had unprotected sex with numerous girls before going public with his status and participating in a documentary on his journey with AIDS.  When asked in an interview with Loop 21 if he wished he had come clean sooner, Brawner responded in the negative.  He said, “I think everything happens in its time.  Everything has its time and has its purpose. It was just my time.”[i]

The obvious counter is that the right time would have been when Brawner first had unprotected sex.  The HIV-positive person’s right to privacy ends where he or she puts another person at risk.  What about the rights of this person?  You didn’t bother to tell me that if I have sex with you I may end up getting a horrible disease that changes my life and that’s ok because you have a right to privacy? Really?

 

While the high profile Williams and Brawner cases are cited here, there are many other cases that go unreported in the media.  Further, many are not as clear cut.  For legal purposes, it is difficult to prove which party originally had the virus, especially when multiple partners are involved.  The first person to get tested and find out his or her status may shoulder the blame, even if he or she was actually infected by someone else who was not diagnosed until later.  It also possible for people to use the legal system to seek revenge against former partners who are HIV-positive.[i] 

Laws that criminalize HIV exposure may have the paradoxical effect of increasing transmission.  Research does not support the idea that the law plays a role in anyone’s sexual behavior.  Sexual activity is often impulsive and laws based on rational analysis therefore have a very limited impact.  Getting tested for HIV, on the other hand, requires deliberation and effort.   Laws that impose obligations on those who know their HIV-positive status and make it possible for this status to be made public and used against them in prosecution may deter testing.[ii] 

While there should be legal options for extreme cases like Nushawn Williams, criminalization is not a very useful tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  We would hope that those with HIV do the right thing and be honest with their sexual partners.  However, legally mandating that they do so is not an effective prevention tactic.  At the end of the day, it is up to you to protect yourself. 

Here’s what you can do:

1.    Get tested

2.   Have your partner to do the same

3.   Always ask what someone’s status is before a sexual encounter

4.   Be honest about your own status

5.    Don’t go through with it if you don’t trust them to tell you the truth or you’re not willing to take the risk

6.   Use protection

To find an HIV testing site near you, please go to http://www.hivtest.org/

--Melanie Pino-Elliott

GET DOWN Youth Blogger

mpino@sas.upenn.edu

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[i] AVERT. http://www.avert.org/criminal-transmission.htm

[ii] Richard Elliott.  Criminal Law, Public Health, and HIV Transmission: A Policy Options Paper. http://data.unaids.org/publications/IRC-pub02/jc733-criminallaw_en.pdf

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[i] Darren Sands.  “25 to Life: In New Film, Man with AIDS Confesses Unprotected Past.” http://loop21.com/life/coming-clean-hiv-postive-man-confronts-lives-he-destroyed

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[i] Michael Cooper.  “Drifter Says He Had Sex with up to 300.” http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/29/nyregion/drifter-says-he-had-sex-with-up-to-300.html

[ii] Jennifer Frey.  “Jamestown and the Story of 'Nushawn's Girls.'”  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/jamestown0601.htm

[iii] Richard Perez-Pena.  “Two Births Lengthen List in One-Man HIV Spree.”  http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/29/nyregion/two-births-lengthen-list-in-one-man-hiv-spree.html

[iv] Richard Perez-Pena. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/29/nyregion/two-births-lengthen-list-in-one-man-hiv-spree.html

[v] American Civil Liberties Union.  State Criminal Statutes on HIV Transmission—2008.  http://www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file292_35655.pdf

[vi] AVERT.  Criminal Transmission of HIV. http://www.avert.org/criminal-transmission.htm

C.R.E.A.M. Human Slavery Alive And Well in U.S.

At a marketing firm in a major U.S. city, there is a 28-year-old sales representative named Todd.  He works 9 to 5, drives a Hybrid, has a serious girlfriend, and spends holidays volunteering at a soup kitchen.  One Saturday night, Todd attends the bachelor party of his college friend Larry, who is getting married the following weekend.  The party is held at a local strip club.  Todd has no intention of cheating on his girlfriend and probably wouldn’t do anything sketchy like paying for sex anyway.  However, simply by paying his cover charge at the door, he unwittingly contributed to human slavery.

Sex trafficking—the illegal trade of human beings for sexual exploitation—is a global problem.  It is one of the word’s largest criminal enterprises, tied with the arms market and second only to the drug trade.[i]  You’ve probably heard about it.  It may not surprise you that large numbers of Burmese women and children are smuggled into Thailand to work in brothels.  Or that in the last few years roughly 100,000 Ukrainian women were exported into the sex trade in western Europe.  Or that related problems occur in other countries across Europe and Asia, as well as Africa, Australia, and Latin America.[ii]  However, sex trafficking is not the exclusively foreign problem that such statements would lead you to believe.  What may surprise you is just how big this problem is in the United States. 

Let us return to the strip club.  One of the girls working that night, Tina, is from South Bend, Indiana.  Her father was an angry, abusive man and her mother coped by drinking heavily.  When Tina was 13, she met a man named Jake.  He listened to her.  Unlike her parents, he seemed to care about her.  She quickly fell in love.  After a few months of being together, he convinced her to leave her miserable horrible home life and move with him to the "big city".   When they arrived, he got her a job at the club.  She became a stripper, believing him when he said it was the only way they could support themselves.

When he started insisting that she have sex with the patrons, she tried to resist.  He then beat her, raped her, and chained her to the wall for several days.  Both emotionally and physically under his control, she obeyed his orders.  Tina now has sex with several clients a night and gives the money to Jake.  She sees no way out of this life.  Jake has told her that if she goes to the police, she’ll be the one in trouble.  She is the prostitute, after all.

Though this story and its characters are fictional, they represent thousands of real situations across the country.  Because of the underground economy and the fear and coercion used to keep victims from coming forward, statistics on sex trafficking are difficult to come by.[i]  However, analysts estimate that between 100,000 and 300,000 children are sexually exploited in the US and that the average age of entry into the trade is 12 to 14 years old.[ii] 

It gets worse for the club patrons with fewer reservations than Todd.  Due to the nature of their work, sex trafficking victims have a comparatively high risk of HIV infection.  They are forced to sell sex, usually to multiple partners and may not be given access to condoms.  Additionally, the sex acts that occur are often of a riskier nature.  For example, injuries inflicted during violent sex may not allowed to heal properly before future encounters, increasing susceptibility to the virus.[iii] Those who solicit sexual services from the club dancers, therefore, put themselves at risk of contracting HIV. 

It is important to understand that human trafficking is very much tied to the legal sex trade.  Pimps frequently start their victims off in strip clubs, massage parlors, escort services, or pornography.  After progressing to prostitution, these venues provide a cover for the illegal activity.[i]  What many people would declare a harmless way for guys to blow off steam in fact feeds into one of the most evil institutions in the world.  Sex trafficking exists for one simple reason: it is profitable.  If there were no demand, there would be no market.  Patrons of the commercial sex industry, legal or illegal, are part of the demand that keeps this market alive. 

Every year in January, Human Rights Organizations bring attention to Sex Trafficking around Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  While the sex trade, and sale of woman and children is a global pandemic, the connection between the trade and HIV and overall sexual health must be part of the dialogue, especially in the United States. 

If you believe you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 or visit http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-human-trafficking-hotline/the-nhtrc/overview

To find out some of the warning signs that someone may be a trafficking victim, please see http://www.lightunderthebridge.com/Human_Trafficking.html

To learn more about human trafficking, check out http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/overview

--Melanie Pino-Elliott

GET DOWN Youth Blogger

mpino@sas.upenn.edu

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[i] Shared Hope International.  “Demand: A Comparative Examination of Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States.” http://www.sharedhope.org/Portals/0/Documents/DEMAND.pdf

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[i] PBS.  “Estimating the Numbers.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/etc/stats.html

[ii] Neubauer, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/23/sex-trafficking-us-called-epidemic/?page=all

[iii] Amanda Kloer.  “Sex Trafficking and HIV/AIDS A Deadly Junction for Women and Girls.” http://www.americanbar.org/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/irr_hr_spring10_kloer.html

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[i] Chuck Neubauer.  “Sex Trafficking in the U.S. Called ‘Epidemic.’” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/23/sex-trafficking-us-called-epidemic/?page=all

[ii] Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.  http://www.catwinternational.org/factbook/index.php

Protecting Our Boys 3: Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?

EDITOR’S NOTE:

In part three of GET DOWN’s series Protecting Our Boys, we  question whether parents and caregivers are pro-active in investigating their minor child's extra-curricular activities and after school programs. Take a read.

All That Glitters isn't Gold.

It’s 3pm, school’s out – do you know where your children are?  After school and extra-curricular activities used to be where young people honed their unique talents, showed athletic prowess and often served as creative outlets for young people.  I was a product of the Carter Administration, which provided an abundance of youth programs.  It was my introduction to participating in activities outside of my home that only included my family members.  Those programs afforded me additional nurturing that eventually led to me becoming a professional actor at the age of ten.

Those years were formative years that developed me into the man that I am today.  I was thrust into situations that exposed me to a variety of adults, some healthy mentors and others who knew nothing about a child being a child.  It was the involvement of my family though that provided the security needed to help protect me from outside forces.  Now, after school and community program often serve as a dumping ground for young people whose parents or guardians are not active in their lives.  

Two weeks ago, Patrick Lott, a middle school vice principal was arrested on charges of invasion of privacy, and more than two dozen charges of endangering the welfare of a child for videotaping male students showering nude at Immaculata High School in Somerville, NJ where he serves as “volunteer coach” and videographer.  In another high profile case, alleged pedophile and former Penn State assistant coach Sandusky was accused of using his Second Mile youth foundation as a way to find his victims.

One area I know we can all support to ward off these hideous acts is active parenting.  Now this is not to place blame on parents alone, but it is the parents who are the primary caregivers in a child's life.  Too often we as parents trust our children to adults and programs that we know nothing about or haven't thoroughly investigated.  Many predators are trusted individuals in respected programs.

I know as a parent I want my children to be in a reputable program where they are safe and engaged in productive activities.  As is common we are all over worked and challenged with the daily task of making it through daily life.  Having our children in a program or mentored seems to solve a big problem of “what is my child doing when I'm not around”, but again how thoroughly have we look into the program and the people that service our children? 

As a parent it is our responsibility to do the extra homework.  How much do we really know about the organization, institution, or adults that our children encounter regularly?  I have and currently oversee youth programs where I have never had any contact with the parents.  Do we even know the names of the adults we entrust our children?  What are our roles as parents and how do we get the necessary information that is needed?

As a parent, primary caregiver of my partners' children, and having mentored hundreds of children over the years; I can say communication with our children is key.  I am the parent, the adult, and it is my sole responsibility to take care of my child.  It is my job to be nosey and ask as many questions as needed to both my child and the overseers of my children.  How often have I visited the program of my child?  How often do I communicate with the program and the adults?  What actually are the scheduled activities and the timeline of the program day?

These are questions I wished parents would ask me when I am solely responsible for their child while in my programs.  Yendor Productions works with children of all ages in performing, visual, and wellness arts programs.  Children are trusted to my programs to not only learn various art forms from theatre, photography, and poetry just to name a few but to be safe in their role as the child and student.

Recently, my godchildren wanted to bring a friend to a sleepover at my house.  I explained that I would need to meet the parents so they would feel safe about their nine year old being with a total stranger for the weekend.  In their defense, they are close to my kids mother, but don't know me from a can of paint.  I met the father asked if she could come over the following weekend for a sleepover.  He replied sure but never asked for my full name or address. What?!!!

It takes the additional work and as I stated earlier communication and being the parent has served me best as a father and educator.  I let my children and the youth that are in my program know that I care but that it is my responsibility to make sure that they are safe.

--Rodney Gilbert

Founder

Yendor Productions

rahghil@aol.com

www.yendorproductions.com

Sex Education in Philadelphia Schools: An Ounce of Prevention

Every so often, along the brick pathways that go through the University of Pennsylvania campus, there are stone panels with quotes from Benjamin Franklin etched into them.  Every Tuesday, on my way to statistics class, I pass one that reads, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  This idea is very important to the HIV/AIDS situation, especially here in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s HIV infection rate is five times the national average, affecting 1.3% of the population.[i]  Young adults are the most at risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in general, and for HIV in particular, infections have increased by 40% over the last three years.[ii]  According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, almost 18% of reported AIDS cases in the United States are people ages 20-29.  Because AIDS usually takes 10 years to develop after HIV infection, these young adults probably contracted the virus as teenagers.

Psychologists believe that the part of the brain responsible for evaluating long-term consequences is still immature during adolescence.[iii]  For this reason, teens often engage in risky behaviors such as becoming sexually active at an early age, using drugs, not using protection, or having sex with multiple partners,[iv] all of which make HIV infection more likely.

 

If you are a teenager living in the Philadelphia area, you face a major challenge in getting information and skills useful for prevention.  In Pennsylvania public schools, sexual health is rarely taught until high school, at which point you or your peers may already be sexually active; a 2009 survey from the CDC found that 15% of Philadelphia teens lose their virginity before age 13.[i] 

Public schools in Pennsylvania are required to teach STI and HIV transmission, but not as part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum.[ii]  Last year, the Healthy Youth Act (HB 1163), which would have made schools offer age-appropriate sex ed,  covering both abstinence and contraception, failed to pass.[iii]  Instead, individual districts are left to decide whether sex ed will be offered and what will be included in the curriculum.[iv] 

Many of the health classes that are taught are not very practical.  The trend seems to be focusing on anatomy and physiology rather than real-life applications and decision-making.  As Brenda Green, executive director of Concern for Health Options: Information, Care, and Education (CHOICE) said in a Philadelphia City Paper article, “When you’re 15 and someone is pressuring you into something you may not want to do, knowing what your fallopian tubes are won’t help.”

Some community-based programs have arisen to (partially) make up for these shortcomings. CHOICE is based in Philadelphia and provides services throughout Pennsylvania.  The organization teaches sexual health through formal presentations, local events and community outreach. They also operate a hotline where teens can call in with any questions about health, relationships, or related subjects [v] Another movement called Take Control Philly, which offers STI testing at health centers and allows teens ages 13-19 to pick up or order free condoms.[vi]

Factors other than education influence adolescent sexual behavior.  Some things that predict less sexual risk-taking are close relationships with parents, strong religious affiliations, and involvement in school and community activities.  On the other hand, riskier sexual behavior corresponds to sexually irresponsible parents, sexually active friends and peers, romantic relationships (particularly with older partners), alcohol and drug use, and gang involvement.[vii]

Ultimately, however, sexual responsibility is an individual choice.  Teens, your parents may not have been great role models to you.  Your school may not have educated you properly.  Your friends may be pressuring you.  But you still have the power to do what is right for you.  Becoming sexually active is a big decision that you shouldn’t rush into or make for the wrong reasons.  If you are sexually active, HIV (as well as pregnancy, and other STIs) can happen to you.  If you use protection consistently, the risk of HIV can be reduced by 80%.[viii]  You should know your partner, your partner’s sexual history, and you should both get tested for HIV.  Make sure your partner is someone you trust to tell you the truth and to support you if the worst should happen.  Respect yourself, protect yourself, and remember the words of Ben Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” 

For more advice on dealing with peer pressure and sex, go here: http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/girls/virginity.html?tracking=T_RelatedArticle

For more information on your body, sexual health, and relationships, check out http://www.choiceteens.org/ or call 1-800-84-TEENS

To find an HIV Testing Site near you, follow this link: http://www.hivtest.org/

--Melanie Pino-Elliott

GET DOWN Youth Blogger

mpino@sas.upenn.edu

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[i] Daniel Denvir, 2011.  Avoiding the Subject: Philadelphia Schools are Failing When It Come to Sex Education. http://www.citypaper.net/news/2011-10-20-philadelphia-schools-sex-education.html

[ii] Christina Long, 2011.  Urgent Need for Sex Education in Philly Schools. http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/113578/urgent-need-sex-education-philly-schools

[iii] Brian Wallace, 2010.  Bill Would Require Sex-Ed Classes in Public Schools. http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/253048_Bill-would-require-sex-ed-classes-in-public-schools.html

[iv] Christina Long, 2011.

[v] http://www.choiceteens.org/

[vi] http://www.takecontrolphilly.org/

[vii] Douglas Kiry & Gina Lepore, 2007.  Sexual Risk and Protective Factors. http://www.etr.org/recapp/documents/theories/RiskProtectiveFactors200712.pdf

[viii] World Health Organization, 2011.  Condom Effectiveness in Reducing Heterosexual HIV Transmission. http://apps.who.int/rhl/hiv_aids/dwcom/en/index.html

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[i] Nick Powell, 2010.  City Council Tackles HIV/AIDS epidemic in Philly. http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2010/10/27/city-council-tackles-hivaids-epidemic-in-philly/

[ii] WHYY Radion, 2011. http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2011/04/12/11025/

[iii] Salynn Boyles, 2007.  Teens Are Hard-Wired for Risky Behavior. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070413/teens-are-hardwired-for-risky-behavior

[iv] American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2004.  Children, Adolescents, and HIV/AIDS. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_adolescents_and_hiv/aids

NY Gay Marriage A Triumph, But Challenges Remain

On Sunday July 24^th, 2011, 30 days after it was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York’s gay marriage law took effect.    Minutes after, hundreds of eager gay couples were wed across the state.  The passing of this law is a momentous occasion in the LGBT community. For same sex couples to finally be able to legally wed, and enjoy all of the benefits associated with marriage is a major triumph.

The LGBT community has been celebrating since the Governor originally passed the bill on June 24^th.  Just two days later, New York City’s annual Pride Parade took place.  The parade has been in effect for over 40 years.  And while each year the celebrations and festivities grow in support and number, the streets were in no way ready for the massive turnout that occurred on June 26th.

Because of the bills passage, people flocked from nationwide to show their support for the LGBT community and this country’s latest same-sex marriage law.  This is certainly a triumph for the LGBT community, but 40 years after the Stonewall Riots, many challenges still remain.  For those who identify with the LGBT community, these include coming out to friends and loved ones or just merely as they live their lives amongst people who may not agree with their sexual orientation.  As I walked along the NYC Pride parade route this year, I wanted to find out some of the challenges and triumphs that LGBT youth, in particular, face today.

Jo, 21, of the Bronx:  “My family is strictly from the West Indies and we’re Catholic, so it was definitely hard [coming out] but it’s something that they have to live with and they came through…and I’m here five years later all in one piece!” 

Ashley, 22, of Teaneck, NJ: “I'd say that the biggest challenge in coping with my sexuality was having to deal with other peoples’ ignorance and prejudices. It can be draining having to argue with people in order to legitimize my sexuality. In the end it's my life and not theirs and what I want to do and who I love is none of their business. The only thing I ask is to have the same rights as everyone else.”

 

Henry, 22, of Teaneck, NJ: “For me, the biggest challenge is actually admitting to yourself who you are and coming to terms with it regardless of religious or political stances. We still live in a very theology-driven society and the process of mustering up the courage needed to acknowledge one's sexuality defies social mores and (perhaps) cultural values. In my opinion, the most difficult part of coming out was the process of self-discovery and coming to grips with who I am.”

New York’s passage of the same-sex marriage bill presents young people of the LGBT community with opportunities that those before them were not as fortunate to have. Now they, too, can fulfill the dream of a legal marriage that just weeks ago, they were not entitled.

 

Sarah, 25, of Clifton, NJ:  “I’m bi-sexual and I’m open about it. The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was come out to my parents. They had a hard time getting used to it but are still supportive…and my mom is here for the first time this year!”

Like Sarah’s mother, this year’s Pride Parade was a first for many. From 36th street & 5th Avenue, all the way down to Christopher & Greenwich Streets in The Village, hundreds of supporters, both new and old, were in attendance. I guess we can say that New York’s latest legislative reform has impacted New Yorkers in more ways than one.

And that is truly a triumph.

--Rebecca Florcyzk

GET DOWN Youth Blog Squad

florcyz3@tcnj.edu

 

 

More Than Just A Parade: NYC's Gay Pride Parade 2011

On November 2, 1969, the first gay pride parade was organized in New York City by American gay rights activist, Craig Rodwell. Today, the march has evolved into a week long celebration known as Gay Pride Week, during which numerous rallies and festivities take place in support of the LGBT community.   There is another difference, however, between this year’s events and the first parade that took place over 40 years ago. This year, there was something new to celebrate.

On June 24, 2011, just two days before NYC Pride, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law legalizing same-sex marriage in the state of New York.  New York is now just one of six states nationwide in which same-sex marriage is permitted.  With this new and exciting news, hundreds upon hundreds of people from New York and nationwide came out to make this year’s parade one to remember.  

GET DOWN's New York based partner organization, FACES NY was there to show their support with a float of their own.  The parade began at noon on Sunday, June 26th at 36^th street & 5^th Avenue and ended at Christopher & Greenwich Streets in The Village.  

Our partner FACES NY entered the parade at 37^th Street on a large float themed “Paris is Burning.”  Those who participated wore either a fire inspired costume or dressed in a red, orange or yellow shirt. At the center of the float was a reconstruction of the Eiffel Tower in flames.  Throughout the course of the parade, I was able to speak with many young people to get their opinions on the passage of the same-sex marriage bill.  According to Kristin, 22, of New York, this is “the greatest thing that could have happened to the city.”

 

Chelsea, 18, of New York said, “I was excited because we [the LGBT community] fall in love, too and we all wanna get married.  We have our own plans and desires, you know, like everybody else. I felt that it was fair and about time!”  The large turnout at NYC Pride proved that many people share the opinions of these two young women. Jay, of New York, however, brought a different opinion to the table in response to New York’s latest legislative reform. 

 

Jay, an HIV education counselor in the New York area, stated “I think it’s a wonderful first step, but I do believe that as a man of color, who is a man of same sex desires, that there are a plethora of issues that the black and brown communities should see as more important than gay marriage.  We’re more likely to be incarcerated for crime, we are more likely to be poor, more likely to drop out of school, more likely to catch HIV/AIDS.  There are so many other things that I feel our white brothers and sisters within the LGBT community are not comfortable with addressing.”  While Jay recognizes the positive impact of the same-sex marriage bill on the LGBT community, he brings to light the fact that there are still many issues facing minorities within the gay community; issues that he believes are of greater importance.  

 

Overall, the 2011 Gay Pride Parade was a joyous and celebratory event.  I, like many others along the parade route, believe we should consider the efforts of New York’s Governor Cuomo a step in the right direction for New Yorker’s and the LGBT community as a whole.

--Rebecca Florcyzk

GET DOWN Youth Blog Squad

florcyz3@tcnj.edu