Statement from the Rev. William Sinkford, President of the UUA, on World AIDS Day
December 3, 2007
As a religious leader, I have a spiritual commitment to understanding and addressing the truth of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The truth, not the rhetoric of the administration. The truth, not rationalizations based on shame, guilt or fear.The truth is that HIV/AIDS is most often spread through sexual contact. And because sex is involved, we have been unwilling to share life-saving information, truthful information, about effective prevention.
I recognize that my brothers and sisters in the religious community, as well as our political leaders, do not always agree on how to talk about sex, or how to most effectively prevent the spread of HIV. But while our beliefs differ, we can all agree on one vital point: We must work together to stop the spread of HIV—right now, today. There is not a minute to lose.
During the last 25 years our government has spent $1.5 billion on domestic abstinence-only programs. Sadly, we know that abstinence-only education simply does not work. This July, the British Medical Journal released a study concluding that STD and pregnancy rates were unaffected by abstinence-only programs. Similar results have been found in American studies. “Just say no” didn’t work in the Garden of Eden, and it isn’t working today. Abstinence-only programs don’t work because they don’t tell the whole truth. By leaving out life-saving information, these programs do a grave disservice to American youth and adults, and to the world’s most vulnerable populations who rely on U.S.-funded prevention programs. And by telling only partial truths, we do a grave disservice to our shared humanity.
The truth is this: our government is withholding medically-sound information that will teach people about safer sex. Our government is withholding simple facts that could save lives. To me and many other people of conscience, this is worse than dishonest—it is immoral.
Profound moral consequences result from our refusal to face the truth. We don’t have to go far to see those consequences. For example, Washington, DC, suffers from the highest overall AIDS rate in the nation, with one in 20 residents infected with the HIV virus. As of 2006, over 12,000 DC residents are living with HIV/AIDS. Of that number, 337 children under 13 have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. And in 2005, the District accounted for 9 percent of all pediatric AIDS cases in the nation. These figures represent real people, real suffering. And this suffering demands an honest accounting, from a religious as well as a governmental perspective. My friends, we must do more to stop to spread of this virus. We must speak the truth about HIV/AIDS in every school, in every classroom, and with every student.
Abstinence-only education fails our youth, and it fails also to address the lives of many adults. My faith tradition embraces all persons regardless of sexual orientation. What do abstinence-until-marriage programs tell our gay and lesbian citizens who are denied the basic right to marry in all but one state? Are we telling them to remain celibate until death? This unrealistic expectation not only adds to their feelings of marginalization, it cruelly denies the very fact of their existence and, as a result, endangers them further. We must speak their truth as well before we can conquer HIV.
As an African American, I am anguished to learn that, while African Americans make up 57 percent of Washington, DC’s population, they account for 81 percent of new HIV cases and 86 percent of those living with AIDS in this District. Nationwide, African Americans make up 13 percent of the. population, but we account for nearly half of all new HIV infections. Social, economic, and medical problems are interconnected. Where we find crumbling schools, limited jobs, and substandard housing, there we also find higher rates of HIV/AIDS. It’s no coincidence that all of these problems disproportionately afflict persons of color. Structural racism supports the spread of this disease. That is another truth we must tell. And another truth we must be willing to hear.
Internationally, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR, mandates that one-third of all prevention funding must go to abstinence-until-marriage programs. If we factor in programs that prevent mother-to-child transmission, ensure a safe blood supply, and provide clean needles in medical settings, then only 25 percent of our global HIV prevention funding is currently used to support programs that so much as mention condoms.
As citizens of the most powerful nation on the earth, we must recommit ourselves to telling the truth. And we must demand the same from our leaders. Only then will we exercise our full power to save lives.
In 2008, when PEPFAR is
due for reauthorization, we can erase the abstinence-only earmark and allow our
international partners to provide evidence-based, scientifically-sound,
comprehensive HIV prevention programs. We can save lives—but only if Congress
starts taking effective HIV prevention seriously.
The United States needs a national AIDS strategy. It is time
for our elected leaders, our faith leaders—every one of us—to speak
out. To tell the truth without
shame, without guilt, and without fear.
My prayer on World AIDS Day is that we will summon the moral courage to honestly confront the spread of HIV/AIDS. My prayer is that we will open our minds and our hearts. My prayer is that our intelligence, our compassion, and our tolerance will allow us to face the truth. Because only the truth—not ideology, not wishful thinking—only the truth will help us end the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
For more information contact info @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
