"Black PLWAs Poorly Served By Both Government And Services"

"Black PLWAs Poorly Served By Both Government And Services"

This article from 1988 written for Rites magazine, a queer publication, highlights the struggle for Black Canadian cases of AIDS to be taken seriously when they began to appear in major cities like Toronto. At the time, case numbers were relatively low within the community, and the general public's perception of the disease was that it was a “white” illness. Doug Stewart, a lead organizer for the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, notes that this, mixed with the fear of being outed and the harsh alienation already being felt among queer Black folks prevented many of them from getting tested, if they were even educated enough about HIV to know to go to a physician. This points out that there already was a very likely underrepresentation of case numbers released by public health. At this point in time, even the few Black AIDS prevention organizations faced challenges when it came to public education given that they wanted to avoid “crossing ethnic barriers within the Black community”, as Mr. Stewart explained. By trying to avoid isolating or scare off certain groups with information on the subject riddled with stigma, organizations needed to be careful with their actions, slowing the spread of education about AIDS within Black communities.

Mary Louise Adams

Adams, Mary Louise. “Black PLWAs Poorly Served by Both Government and Services” <em>Rites</em>, December, 1988, 4.

Rites

December 1988

Aids Activist History Project

Magazine