Longtime Companionship, yo.

Longtime Companion - one of the first movies to discuss the AIDS crisis beginning in the 1980s. AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, causes severe damage to the immune system. Down from its number one rank in 1995, AIDS in the sixth leading cause of death in people age 25-44 in the United States. HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the cause of AIDS and it attacks the immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to life threatening infections and cancers. People with healthy immune systems are able to fight off the common bacteria, yeast, parasites, infections and viruses whereas all of these may cause fatal illness in people with AIDS. HIV has been found in tears, saliva, nervous system tissue, spinal fluid, blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal fluid and breast milk but it is only blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk that generally carry infections to others.

Initially, Kaposi's Sarcoma, a rare form of benign cancer previously only found in older men, appeared in many young gay men from New York. Referred to as a gay cancer or disease, many homosexual couples refused to believe that this cancer had any association with their sexual orientation. Believed to be a result of promiscuity of homosexuals, an overwhelming amount of sickness overcame the gay population. In 1998, a study was done resulting in 54% of people were AIDS were homosexual, and those were only who admitted it. In September of 2010, the AIDS crisis had spread so much that 1 in 5 homosexual and bisexual males in America had HIV and over half of these did not even know it. It has been found that anal sex increases the risk of contracting AIDS, and a study done by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from 1994 to 1997, the proportion of homosexual men admitting to having anal sex increased from 57.6% to 61.2%.

In the movie, you are able to see the drastic impact that this disease had on not only the people diagnosed with AIDS, but also their lovers and friends. AIDS caused fear and confusion because throughout the 1980s, no one was even truly aware of what was really the cause or side effects. It was first referred to as a Gay Related Immune Disorder because that was the only sense they could make of the disease. Lack of technology and understanding caused many innocent, non promiscuous people to contract AIDS through blood transfusions and body fluid contact. After this, hostility towards homosexuals increased, blaming the disease on them. All in all, AIDS was and still is an issue worldwide and scientists and doctors are desperately searching for a cure.

Pictures:

http://bert-trashboi.blogspot.com/2010/09/longtime-companion-1990.html?zx=7528780bdde0ac97

http://republicofaustin.com/world-aids-days-2009-a-personal-remembrance-from-austin-texas/

Information:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001682/

http://www.avert.org/aids-history-86.htm

http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexuality_and_AIDS

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001620/