The Fire Island/COVID/HIV discourse has gotten so nasty and it’s really tough to navigate but y’all are being disgraceful. Criminalization and stigma are bad generally and is still currently bad for our community. This is unprecedented. COVID is unique.

Amongst the reasons COVID is unique is that government and societal response (or lack thereof) to HIV/AIDS crisis was largely exacerbated by the fact that many believed getting HIV to be punishment for what people deemed immoral behavior.

The criminalization and stigma of HIV was rooted in homophobia. Even though it wasn’t just a gay disease, that narrative stuck. So much so that criminalization of HIV was required for states to get Ryan White funding. Any comparison that doesn’t account for that is dishonest.

With COVID numbers on the rise, acts like not wearing a mask, not distancing or having massive parties are actually immoral behavior. Gay sex is not and it never was. A massive difference.

We’re not exactly in danger of seeing the same affects of criminalization and stigma of COVID because COVID is a disease that a large sect of the country literally denies is happening. I’ve been in the south about a couple weeks. They know. They don’t care and they deny it.

Further, across the country, we aren’t even getting testing done adequately. People were marching on capitals for their right to go back to work weeks ago and are currently assaulting store employees because they are asking them to wear masks.

I don’t think we’re gonna see an HIV/AIDS level of criminalization/stigma for COVID from a govt that doesn’t acknowledge its danger as real. The government has decided that it’s better to suffer the consequences of COVID than to impose any legal restrictions on people.

It’s painstakingly clear that government ineptitude and abhorrent public health messaging has played a massive role in how people have responded to this pandemic.....

But is the shaming and personal accountability being placed on people in the time of COVID much different than that we put on say..... anti-vaxxers?

I think we all understand that a few parties aren’t the sole reason for the spikes we’re about to see. The frustration is clearly bred out of an already existing frustration with the often toxic combo of white maleness, affluence and homosexuality that Fire Island represents.

We should be prepared for people
not following the rules, but how? What do we want various state governments and the federal government to do that isn’t law enforcement and policing? That’s all they know how to do and we know they don’t do it effectively!

I’d say the answer is more compulsory testing, widespread resources and support to increase measures that will keep everyone safe and reduce risks, but we know that flat out isn’t going to happen. DeSantis, Trump and others have made that very clear.

Knowing that we’re not getting that government support we desperately need, it’s not surprising that people have taken up the responsibility to adjudicate and enforce things themselves. Whether it be through shaming or asking others in their presence to take more precautions.

It’s important to address the concerns without calling cops. We can circle the wagons as a community to discourage large gatherings, relay the importance of masks for these inevitable ill-advised parties without calling the COPS. Literally, we can do both.

Finally, the idea that we’re basically back at square one when it comes to pandemic response is peculiar. Y’all saying it’s just like “HIV/AIDS all over again” is quite ironic, because in a way it concedes that the past 30+ years of HIV/AIDS activism has been effectively useless.

I don’t think that’s true. The HIV/AIDS activism that has happened over the past 30 years has done so much to advance queer liberation and saved a ton of lives. Don’t dishonor that work, because you wanna make a self-serving myopic comparison to this unprecedented time.