Men’s AIDS Taskforce
By
Gary Dennis
I can’t even begin to express the alarm and disgust that I felt when looking at the AIDS numbers for Fresno County. While on one hand I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by what I have seen but on the other hand it still disappoints me and makes me begin ask, "Where have we gone wrong?". In Fresno County according to County of Fresno surveillance data, men represent 85.2% of all the AIDS cases (that’s not counting HIV numbers); and more particularly, Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) comprise 57% of the AIDS cases and combine that with 8% MSM/IDU (Injection Drug Use) category, you have a combined total 65% of these male cases dealing directly with the Gay community here in Fresno County. Now like I said, for some, this maybe no surprised but for others it should have them questioning "Why?". Well for me, that is the question that is on my mind. With all the information and education that is out there plus that which has been directed towards the Gay community, why are these numbers looking like this? I can’t even begin to answer this question so I’m going to turn to the experts for the answers, in this case, the Gay community of Fresno County. Since the majority of these male cases involve the Gay community, I feel that they should have some type of involvement in the solution to this problem. With that being said, I have come up with the idea of putting together a Men’s AIDS Taskforce. Since men make 85.2% of the AIDS cases, I think men from throughout this county need to come together to discuss why this is and what we can do to make a positive impact on this statistic. The way I envision this taskforce to be is a gathering of men who are willing to come together to discuss the issues of HIV/AIDS in an open and welcoming environment. Since these numbers impact the male population of Fresno County the most, we as "men" need to take ownership and responsibility for this and develop real and effective strategies that will hopefully alleviate the situation. In others words it time for the men to be men and start dealing with this problem. We as men need to take a stand as leaders of our communities and play an active role in addressing the issues that impact us the most as well as the lives of those around us! The first gathering of this Men’s AIDS Taskforce will be October 20, 2005 at 6pm here inside the Fresno Center for Nonviolence. For more information, you can contact me, Gary Dennis at (559) 268-1969. Please come with your ideas, input and an open mind!