As much as we love their Out of the Closet thrift shops, it’s probably time for the gay community to put as much space as we can between ourselves and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Their president is going seriously off the rails.
In a new interview, Michael Weinstein repeated his out-of-touch rhetoric about how we all need to be using condoms — yeah, of course condoms are effective, but saying that it should be the only acceptable method of preventing HIV transmission is about as realistic as pushing for abstinence-only sex ed.
As you’ve probably heard, his group is pretty much the only major backer behind Proposition 60, a proposed law that sounds like a good idea but in practice would likely cause a lot of damage. Not only would it require condoms for porn shoots, it also includes a provision that would force the state to hire Michael Weinstein as a sort of porn czar for California. The law’s vague wording could mean that couples could be sued for shooting condomless sex videos in their own homes. And it could expose performers’ real-life details to stalkers.
Weinstein has a long legacy of stigmatizing people with HIV, and still has negative things to say about PrEP. “It’s often taken in conjunction with crystal meth and other party drugs,” he recently told NPR’s All Things Considered. “It’s really a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
The interviewer does not ask for sources for that claim, so maybe it’s true, but given the source we doubt it.
And this is the way Weinstein and AHF always operate, whether it’s about PrEP or porn. They insist that gay men are dangerous, and that we should all be using condoms all the time — an unrealistic expectation that is out of touch with reality.
Weinstein says that he’s just looking out for the safety of porn performers — oh, but he also refuses to meet with them, because they’ve called him names. Good grief.
So, Californians, remember to get out and vote — not just for president, but also no no no, a thousand times no, on Michael Weinstein’s Prop 60.
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