How has AIDS/HIV affected you directly and personally?

None of the above. Thank G-d, it hasn't touched my life closely, but I do have acquaintances who are positive. I do think about it, but I don't tend to worry about it a whole lot, except every few years when I get tested and am waiting for the results. I have a nasty feeling that I can't really avoid it hitting close, though, as involved in the gay, bi, and poly communities as I am (not to imply that AIDS targets any of these groups!) and I am afraid of that day.

It's been a major issue as long as I've been sexually active (10 yrs). I can't imagine sex without the specter of AIDS hanging over it. Yet I have not always been as careful as I should have been. These facts don't add up, but there they are anyway. I've had one friend die of it. I've been acquainted with several others who were living with it. I am not afraid of getting it myself, because that thought would not be allowed across the "too terrifying to contemplate" filter in my brain.

monogamy is my only protection. *** Steve, did you notice on the stats page that your age is 29.4?

I didn't fall into a high risk category before learning of AIDS when I was 16, it's been 11 years and I still don't fall into a high risk category. I've never done IV drugs or led a promiscious lifestyle. Neither did my wife. As for friends and family, the ones I care about don't fall into the high risk grouping either.

Recent Advances IN Treatments have made it A P P E A R to be less of a danger than it used to be, and have given rise to a culture of recklessness (in some sectors of the gay male community) where people actually seek out HIV+ status. I'm not making this up. And it scares the crap out of me.

i dont have sex, i dont use IV drugs, i have never required a blood transfusion. and i don't really have any friends or family to worry about. it doesn't effect me except that it angers me to see how the government and corporations deal with it.

none of the lifestyle answers fits me. I act appropriately to try to avoid the risk of getting HIV, but that doesn't mean that I don't think about it. I have a test annually and still think about it besides that. My close circle of friends is lucky in that we haven't really been directly affected by it. It didn't change my lifestyle tremendously; I wasn't doing any particularly risky activities before it became an issue, though I do remember the time, but I've made sure I don't do them as time has gone on. I still consider it as much a threat as it was when I first learned about it.

Last year a friend of my family died and since he was only 38 I asked what happened and after much silence someone finally whispered to me that he had aids. The attitude of his family and friends shocked me much more than finding out what bob died from.

Some celebrities that I admire, I suppose. It hasn't been much of an impact in my lifestyle or my life.

I am definitely more careful. I've worked for several biotechs and some worked with AIDS so it's always been important to me. Also, many of my friends are gays and lesbians so I donate and volunteer with/for them. Luckily none of my direct friends has gotten ill, tho many "friends of friends" have.

lots of choices for answers, but I wonder, is there ANYONE who hasn't been affected by AIDS ...***yes, I was suprised when I read the answers here, that a large portion of you DON'T seemed to have been affected ... could it be the radiation from the CRT? protecting us, after all?

I picked blah, blah, blah, just 'cause I wanted to. ***Thank you, Bill; you're like a god to me. Hey, everybody, I made a silly little survey in which the question was "Wouldn't this be a good time to thank Bill for all the hard work he's done maintaining and improving this site for our enjoyment?" And he deleted it! All that, and modest too! What a guy!

I have known half a dozen people who have passed away as a result of AIDS, some closer friends than others (all while I lived in Dar-es-Salaam).

A close family member died of AIDS a couple of years ago and it was one of the most agonizing deaths I've ever seen. It tears your heart out to see such suffering.

wellll... i'm old enough to really remember what it was like before -- not just in terms of the obvious things either. i think AIDS has effected all of us a great deal, directly and indirectly, whether or not we're aware of it. the social costs, cultural costs, the $$ costs...