Readers Sound Off

What's the Wonder? It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that black men are the new most-infected group of people in this country ['What's Gone Wrong?' July]. After years of being forced to believe that lives of crime and street drugs are our only route to success, you start to buy into the bull. And if you don't want to be labeled a punk in your community, then you hide the truth, stress out emotionally and psychologically, and do what you have to do to find as much of the life that you want as you can. I know it's not going to get fixed in my lifetime, but we have to start with love and understanding now! Meanwhile, too many of my brothers are going to end up sick'or just dead. Michael Marks Bronx, N.Y. Keeping Women Well I'd like to add a vital resource for women that your readers might not know about ['Treatment Guide,' July]. It's the Women's Interagency HIV Study, which is for both HIV-positive and -negative women and is accessible in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Women in WIHS receive a physical exam, including breast and gynecological checks. I've participated in the study since 1995, and I've gotten excellent medical care. I certainly recommend it, especially for those who have gynecological problems. Diane Miller via e-mail More Than a Number I just finished reading the article about Linda Scruggs ['It's My Life!' May]. I was blessed to have met her this year, and she is an inspiration to me'and I'm sure to others. I can personally relate to what she says are the insensitive ways that doctors give diagnoses. I remember when I received my HIV diagnosis. I felt like a number instead of a person who just had her life changed drastically. Thanks, Linda, for sharing your story. Debra Duncan-Brown via e-mail It Is Happening I have been incarcerated since August 1998, and I see high-risk sex between men here every day ['It's My Life']. After being released, these guys go out and have sex with their girlfriends, the mothers of their babies, their wives, etc., exposing them to HIV. I know guys who have left here knowing they're infected, and they don't tell their partners. They're out there spreading the virus without thinking twice about it. It's sad, but it's the truth. James Kemp Limestone Correctional Facility Harvest, Ala. Baffled by Bathhouses I have a perplexing question: Why are bathhouses still popular? I ask this question because I recently visited a Web site for gay men that was promoted as providing HIV prevention information. A long article posted there described what to do at a bathhouse'use condoms. That was it! I'm just very distressed by the bathhouse and sex club scene. Do you have any information about their use across the United States? Nina Rhea via e-mail [The editors reply: An excellent resource on bathhouses and HIV prevention is the book Gay Bathhouses and Public Health Policy, edited by William J. Woods, Ph.D., and Diane Binson (Harrington Park Press, 2003).]