The Miseducation of Stacey Campfield

"Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community - it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men.  It was an airline pilot, if I recall."

...

Is this guy for real?

Apparently, yes.

This quote is from an interview with Tennessee state senator, Stacey Campfield, on Mike Signorile's SiriusXM OutQ radio program.  Campfield is the author of the infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill that failed to get anywhere in the TN legislature last year (apparently because they "ran out of time to consider it."), but has made a resurgence for this year's legislative session.

And if you thought the idiocy stopped there, that was just the diarrhea icing on the shit cake.  During his interview, Campfield went on to suggest the following:

"My understanding is that it is virtually - not completely, but virtually - impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex...very rarely."  (There were 13,257 new HIV diagnoses transmitted through heterosexual sex in 2009; 10, 696 new AIDS diagnoses)

Clearly, this man is out of his goddamned tree.  He is not, unfortunately, in the minority in Tennessee, nor really in much of the Appalachian Region (which spans thirteen states).  There is a long and storied history of medical misinformation and urban legends that persists to this day, which is ironic considering the fact that this region of the country has some of the highest incidences of medical problems in the United States.

What is most frightening about Campfield is that he is not alone in his crusade against homosexuals.  Several people, legislators and private citizens, alike, have jumped on his 1980s bandwagon, and seem bound and determined to plunge the state back into the past.

As much as I love my very awesome and not stupid friends who still live in Tennessee, I can't help but think to myself, "Dear God, I'm lucky I got out when I did."

They say that the best prescription for misinformation and prejudice is education.  For more information about HIV/AIDS, please visit the following links:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: HIV/AIDS

CDC Basic HIV Statistics for 2009

The Kaiser Family Foundation: HIV/AIDS

Avert.org