Toward an Understanding of Rhetorically Owning Negative Identity: “HIV is a gay disease”

• In Event: Investigations into the Construction and Deployment of Race, Gender, and Sex in Civic Culture

Abstract

For the past 25 years, the GLBT community has fought its implicit association with HIV/AIDS. The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center reignited this debate with the release of a new ad campaign targeting gay men. While the center claims "HIV is a gay disease", GLBT individuals have revolted against the direct link between their identity and the virus. This paper investigates the rhetorical implications of owning negative identity associated with an always terminal virus.

Author

• Michelle L Kelsey, Arizona State University