Fag on the Rag
“It’s only about fags! It’s got nothing to do with dykes. This political correctness has to stop. It’s killing us.”

—actor Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall fame on AIDS, Denver’s Out Front, June 18

Who’s Politically Incorrect?
“People who are infected should have sex only with other people who are infected…The current approach hasn’t worked for 15 years. Does anybody see the epidemic stopping? It’s time for some new direction. We’ve had this business as usual, with condoms plus education ad nauseam. It doesn’t work’…Dr. Hodes said he was less certain of a strategy for intravenous drug users, who are fueling the epidemic with dirty needles. ‘It’s a far more difficult problem because you’re not dealing with rational people. I don’t know what to do with them. The other thing about addicts is that they have a very short life expectancy to begin with.”

—Pediatrician David Hodes, who serves on the New York State AIDS Advisory Panel, The New York Times, July 5

Beywatch
“I’m not Andy HIV positive Bey. And I don’t live with AIDS 24 hours a day. But it gave me more hope and strength to be focused on what I really wanted to do. I had to put it (my status) out there. Again, take it or leave it. You have to embrace it as a gift, otherwise it haunts you.”

—Jazz legend Andy Bey, Toronto’s Xtra!, July 3

Nose No Bounds
“Dear Susan: I’m an HIV positive woman and I use nasal spray in my vagina to induce explosive orgasm. I think I’m addicted to it…My question: Can the vaginal use of nasal sprays put my sexual partners at a greater risk for contradicting the virus?”

—Nose What She Wants

Dear Nose: God bless you for being so honest. I have heard anecdotes about nasal sprays being abused, however, your method of administration is news to me. If we put your concerns about potential addictive behavior aside, the answer to your question is ‘yes’…Anything that results in dryness and irritation (in your vagina) may also cause bleeding during sex. Even if blood is not visible, it can increase the risk of contracting HIV for your partners.

—Positively Aware’s Ask Susan, July/August 1997

Sexual Healing
“There is definitely some irony to two guys jerking each other off next to a memorial for people who died having great sex. Most guys don’t appreciate the symbolism of what they’re doing.”

—Historian Dan Healy on the incidence of public sex in the park behind Toronto’s AIDS Memorial, Xtra!, July 31