AIDS — prejudice and reality been difficult to unravel. In this article THERESA CONWAY and AIDSADS
For both the ruling class and the left the relationship between the prejudice surround AIDS and its reality has JAMIE GOUGH look at the way in which the issue has emerged in British politics. 'GAY OR STRAIGHT, male or female, anyone can get AIDS from sexual intercourse.' The government information campaign on AIDS has splattered this slogan over street billboards. A year ago, who would have thought that this would be the Tory's message to the nation? The government campaign has sparked an enormous increase in the coverage of AIDS in the press and the media. In both the 'quality' and popular media the focus on the threat of AIDS to heterosexuals is quite new.
Equally unexpected is to hear the Minister for Health argue that 'we frankly don't have time to rely on changing the moral climate' in view of the pressing threat of AIDS. This was Tony Newton's response to opposition from the 'moral majority' to the explicitly sexual content of the government's advertisements. THE AIDS VIRUS CAN LIVE ON A DIRTY NEEDLE. DON'T GIVE IT A NEW HOME. for the first timr ment with an infected person is AIDS is incurable and it kills. • And sharing a needle or up injecting, n telephone 01-XXXXXXx. For more line out the virus straight
DONT DIE IGNORANCE
DONE ALO ANDS
Not that the government's pronouncements are without moral judgements. Newton's line does not rule out a reactionary moral crusade, but points out that it isn't adequate. He refused to condemn Manchester Chief Constable Anderton's outburst on the issue, merely saying that it was 'unhelpful, but his views are shared by others and I have to acknowledge that.' And the government's adverts say 'So the more partners you have, the higher the risk' before they recommend condoms. This is like saying the longer your working life the more likely you are to have an industrial accident. It's true but irrelevant. It's not the number of partners that makes the big difference, it's whether you have safe sex or not. Sowing the storm... Anderton himself didn't mince his words. DON'T INJECT catching AIDS. probably be somebody else's. things. But so far, they've never used a needle. At that moment, they'l be in serious danger of If they do, though, the first neede they use will snorted. mast a bit tike you? if it does, don't inject. And never share way to get infected. Now does this somebody sound someone who carries the AIDS virus is the easiest For more information and atrice, telephore And sharing a needle of other equipment with DONTUALD AU9S DONT 440LA40S
Government AIDS advertising Homosexuals, prostitutes, pornographers and promiscuous people are 'swirling around in a human cesspit of their own making'. Anderton is not the only right wing ideologue to have raised the temperature. Within the Church of England important figures such as the Bishop of London rage against promiscuity, and argue that AIDS proves the necessity of strict adherence to Christian values. This is part of the debate within the Church on a wide range of issues of social behaviour. But it is also directed against the government, and towards reestablishing the influence of the Church of England in society.
Within the Tory Party itself, there is scarcely unanimity on the government campaign. Many backbenchers have voiced their disquiet. The most outrageous remarks yet have come from the leader of the Tory South Staffordshire District Council who has argued that the way to stamp out AIDS is by 'putting 90% of homosexuals in the gas chamber': For lesbians and gay men, such statements do not come out of the blue: the Nazis murdered hundreds of thousands of lesbians and gay men in the death camps.
These ravings have all occurred in the last weeks. They are however consistent with the
line the moral majority has been putting forward on the subject of AIDS for the last two years. The popular press has consistently blamed the 'victims' and built on the already prevalent image of homosexuality as a disease. Some of the press's venom has been turned against individuals. While the press has stopped refering to AIDS as 'the gay plague', it continues to point the finger at gay people as responsible for the spread of the disease to heterosexuals. The press has rarely pointed out that lesbians are the group least likely to have the virus. AIDS and Thatcherism So why has the government now departed from the line of the moral majority in launching its information campaign? Partly it is a result of a realisation that AIDS was not going to be confined to 'marginal' groups such as homosexuals, intravenous drug users and haemophiliacs. It has been known for about three years that the disease is heterosexually transmissable. But it has only more gradually become evident how widely the virus is likely to spread among heterosexuals. Current estimates still vary widely, but a Department of Health report gives a figure of 20,000 new cases of AIDS annually by 1991. The government has reacted both to these rising estimates, and to the fact that the disease is evidently not going to remain limited to 'marginal' groups.
The government has a
different policy from the
morality brigade
But the government's behaviour has also been caused by its overall political project. This has been to restructure the economy, cut public expenditure especially on the welfare state, and smash up the power of the labour movement. It has not concerned itself with the reproduction of labour power; it is content to leave this to the family, without enquiring how the family is to carry this burden. The government's ideological projects have been narrowly focussed on backing up these economic plans. For example, the government's propaganda on women has been directed at legitimising cuts in women's. wages and a further casualisation of women's jobs — not, as many predicted, in driving women out of the labour market.
This has had two consequences. First, the government has not carried out ideological attacks on lesbians and gay men, although it has been quite happy for the 'morality' campaigners to do so. Second, it has been very slow and cautious in reacting on an issue where it could be compelled to actively intervene in the reproduction of labour power. This has reinforced its reluctance to exploit AIDS ideologically, but also accounts for the lag in reacting to the medical information and for its continuing failure to plan rescurces to meet the crisis. It is for these reasons that the government has had a different 16 policy from the morality brigade, who do not
A I DS AIDS CLINIC TIN OUT An Australian AIDS-prevention cartoon have to take responsibility for managing the economy or stopping heterosexuals dying of AIDS.
Many have been surprised that the government has not adopted the line of the moral majority. Eurocommunists and thinkers of the soft left, in particular, see the essence of Thatcherism as being an ideolo-
We must propose
solutions to the reality
of the disease, not just
the ideological attack gical attack, aimed at instilling 'Victorian values' on every subject. The government's behaviour on AIDS shows just how wrong this view is. Thatcher has not used AIDS for an attack on sexual morality; her main concern has been with the disease as a material reality. And because material reality is much more messy and complex than ideology, the behaviour of the right taken as a whole has been confused and contradictory.
TANDBERG ...reaping the whirlwind Years of government indifference and media disinformation have created massive ignornace about AIDS among the general public. In a recent survey, fifty per cent thought that the virus can be transmitted by drinking from the same cup as someone with the virus. Thirty-eight percent thought that all people with the virus should be compulsorily isolated, presumably not realising that this would mean one million people in concentration camps by 1990. When the Terrence Higgins Trust was mentioned in a TV programme in November it received 400 calls a minute asking for information.
Considering the number of hours of the media that the average person in Britain consumes every day, it is an appalling indictment of capitalist broadcasting and press that such ignorance can exist about so important a subject.
In the present situation, ignorance easily turns to bigotry and superstition. People's anxieties about employment, about getting an operation, or about the erosion of family life can easily become fixed on a mysterious threat like AIDS. Peole who are anxious often imagine themselves to be ill, and general
International No 8 January/February 1987
NO ON LaROUCHE In California, a referendum proposition was organised by right wing demagogue LaRouche which would have given the state powers to carry out compulsory testing, quarantine people with the antibody and legalise their sacking from many types of jobs. Initial voter support was reversed, and the proposition defeated, by a militant campaign led by lesbians and gay men, some acting in coalition with groups opposing a racist proposition to
insecurity can very easily be shifted onto fear of a disease. All the easier when the disease can be 'blamed' on outsiders like gay men and drug addicts. This combination of fear and ignorance is also a classic breeding ground for religious ideas. When the Daily Express asks 'If AIDS is not an Act of God with consequences just as frightful as fire and brimstone, then just what the hell is it?', it can expect a receptive audience.
Such behaviour by the media led lesbians and gay men to coin slogans such as 'Aids -the prejudice is worse than the disease'. The disinformation campaign has led to an increase in day to day harassment of lesbians and gay men. Harassment at work and physical attacks of both lesbians and gay men have undoubtedly increased and many of these are directly attributable to the AIDS panic. The idea that the disease is transmitted through sharing of coffee cups may seem trivial but it is a potent excuse for queerbashing. Significant numbers of gay men, particularly those in casual employment but more worryingly one employed by a national trade union, have lost their jobs in the wake of this panic.
Not all of these people have had AIDS or have been even carrying the antibodies -their sexuality has been enough. In other cases employers have pressured people who are thought to be gay to have the anti-body test as a condition for employment or promotion. Similar practices are being used by all insurance companies who will not insure pairs of men without the test.
SF CAN Me Anerd VOTE make english California's 'official language'. International No 8 January/February 1987
AIDS
A socialist response
The development of a disease such as AIDS, so far with no known cure, and which has provided the right with a vehicle for homo-
phobia and racism, requires a careful response from the left. The disease itself and the hysteria surrounding it need separate but interlinked demands. Many of the issues around AIDS are similar to those raised by other diseases such as cervical caner or sickle
It's not the number of partners, it's whether you have safe sex... cell anaemia: increasaed money for research, massive input of funds to the NHS and social service, and public health campaigns. On the other hand what is particular about AIDS is the way in which the ideological construction of the disease has become central both to those suffering from it and those presumed to be at risk.
The socialist movement therefore has two tasks. The first is to counter the hysteria. We need to fight for a public information campaign, free from moralism. Information needs to be regularly updated as medical knowledge develops. Within the workplace accurate and complete information should be provided on what are and what are not dangerous practices. Trade unions must de-
fend the right to work of people with the antibodies and people with AIDS. It is also vital to combat prejudice head-on. While the majority of trade unions have issued health and safety guidelines, they and the Labour leadership have ducked the issue of homophobia.
It is also necessary to opppose false solutions. In particular, compulsory testing for the AIDS antibody must be opposed. There is a danger that, in addition to the compulsory testing already practiced by employers and insurance companies, the government may be tempted to introduce it for, for example, some classes of visitors to Britain, in order to appease the morality brigade.
In fact, the test is useless in showing whether someone is carrying the virus, since antibodies may not appear until up to three months after the virus is contracted, there are false negative results, and the virus may be contracted after the test is taken. Particularly given its expense, compulsory testing could well be selective — of people known or suspected to be gay, or of visitors from Africa. It would therefore not only reinforce heterosexist and racist discrimination but encourage the view that AIDS is a disease for 'marginal' people.
The second task for the socialist movement is to demand adequate resources to deal with the reality of the disease. Parts of the left have concentrated on the ideological issues, ignoring the fact that people are dying. In the days when the discussion around AIDS first opened in this country there were people seriously
17
following feminist practices around cervical live at home. Social services and housing
IS IT SAFE? THE CHALICE AND AIDS
The Chalice: is it safe? by the Terrence Higgins Trust. arguing that the disease had been deliberately spread by the CIA. Others, particularly young people, are very sceptical about any advice on safer sex and argue that this is all a plot to stop us enjoying ourselves. Ihis is to ignore all the contradictions for the ruling class and between the ruling class and the moralists. The ultra-left tendency to neglect the material issues meshes closely with the Eurocommunist perspective.
The appeal of ultra-leftism is backed up by the weakness of campaigns against the cuts in the NHS, social services and housing. AIDS poses a major problem of resources at a time when the Health Service is already falling apart at the seams.
Within four years an additional £500m a year wil be needed in the Nus budget just to cope with AIDs, a 5% increase. A massive increase from the present derisory level is 18 needed in spending on research on AIDS.
AIDS For your free guide to using condoms AIDS Committee of Toronto Box 55. Stn F. Toronto; ON. M4Y 2L4 Phone: (416) 926-1626 Advert published by the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Canada.
The spread of AIDs has also raised questions about the kind of health care we want. The fact that disease spreads more rapidly in situations of poverty, bad housing and social crisis is one the left is familiar with. But and breast cancer, the lesbian and gay movement has begun to look beyond the confines of welfarism and western mediçine in res- pen. ponse to AIDs. Diet, acupuncture, herbalism,
Tand other therapies are being used to build up resistance to the virus, to prevent the virus breaking down the immune system, and to resist AIDs itself.
A premise of these therapies is that people are not ignorant machines to be manipulated by all-knowing doctors. It is therefore not a
ANAL SEX question of campaigning for a return to the 1945 Health Service, but for real information and choice about a wide range of medical techniques and practices.
Similarly, many people with AIDs chose to resources need to be provided to them and those close to them to enable this to hap-
A socialist strategy, then, needs to fight both the prejudice and the disease. Indeed, it is impossible to do either adequately without the other. Lesbians and gay men, as the
principle targets of prejudice have been, and should continue to be, in the leadership of this fight. But this is a task for the whole labour movement d
International No 8 January/February 1987
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