AIDS Conference Calls for End to Discrimination

At the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this week, there has been a great deal of discussion about violence and discrimination directed at homosexuals and lesbians, often based on the mistaken assumption that they are responsible for the disease. As VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, participants in the conference also see improvements in attitudes as a result of education and government actions to protect people from discrimination.

Public health officials and organizations working to diminish the impact of AIDS around the world agree that more tolerant societies have better programs to combat AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. But, they say, discrimination against those whose sexual orientation differs from the norm, whether official, cultural or religious, often works against efforts to control the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Read the rest at voanews.com, or read more on the AIDS conference here at gayagenda.com.