Essentially the government committed to a public awareness campaign that HIV was ‘rapidly growing’ in the heterosexual community, and this became part of the dogma. It is politically motivated—it’s anti-sex message appeases religious conservatives while also shifting attention away from the gay bathouse scene, so it sort of benefits everyone politically, regardless of whether it’s actually true.
What are the political reasons? Staying on-message and retaining funding, or something more specific?
Essentially the government committed to a public awareness campaign that HIV was ‘rapidly growing’ in the heterosexual community, and this became part of the dogma. It is politically motivated—it’s anti-sex message appeases religious conservatives while also shifting attention away from the gay bathouse scene, so it sort of benefits everyone politically, regardless of whether it’s actually true.