The Moral Majority

Okay, I’ll put it out there first. I wasn’t a virgin when I got married. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want my children to be. That is, the ones who still are. Back in my day there was no AIDS, and STD’s were treated with a good dose of penicillin. These days, things are different and sex with the wrong partner could end up becoming an early death sentence. So, to my grown children who are sexually active, I continue to preach SAFE SEX EVERY TIME, until you are married. Even then, I warn them to get medical paper work before hand about their partner’s HIV status, because people do lie!

Having recently lost a dear friend and two others before her who all died of AIDS, I’ll tell you, it ain’t a pretty death. I sat with my girl friend for hours and near the end, even after they had unplugged her, she suffered a lot, gasping for air behind an oxygen mask that she hated, long enough to see her children one last time before she would let go. She was 62 and had gotten AIDS from some one who had lied to her about his HIV STATUS. Which takes me back to the marriage issue, and the strong need to encourage our children to pursue it and require AIDS STATUS information on the marriage license.

I dream of a time when we’ll have to have a government issued, medically approved, document which states your HIV status before you can get a marriage license. At least that way people would have a choice in whether or not they want to put them selves at risk to contract AIDS. Because, even practicing safe sex, exposes one to risks, especially having sex with an HIV positive partner. Until this becomes law, we must continue to educate people about knowing theirs and their partner’s HIV status as though their lives depend on it because they do.

Fifteen years ago, when I was covering a story on AIDS as a reporter, I asked some of our legislators about passing a law to mandate AIDS STATUS information before one could get a marriage license. I got a standard answer; that HIV STATUS is confidential information which could invoke prejudice against a person who is HIV Positive, and should there for be kept private. Recently I checked and found that there is currently no medical exam of any type required to get a marriage license in most states, particularly in Pennsylvania. It may take some time before all of the nuts and bolts of a bill like that can get through either municipal or state legislatures. Until then, It’s ups to all of us to care for ourselves and educate our children about the essential need to know the status of one’s sexual partner.

In the meantime, no one who has watched some one die of AIDS or who is living with the virus wants to ever see others they love contract this horrible and preventable disease. Not being safe with sex at any time in our lives is like playing Russian roulette. The person who wants to live won’t participate in a game where chance can cut their life short. Until doctors get a firm get a grip on HIV prevention and a cure, we must all continue to do every thing to educate our children about making good choices about safe sex, or better yet, abstain until they definitively know the status of their partner.