Hollywood Oscar-winner Charlize Theron was selected as the opening ceremony speaker at the 2016 International AIDS Conference this week. In front of thousands of attendees, the South African actress and founder of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project shared a pretty astounding fact – bigotry is the reason AIDS is still ravaging the globe.
“The real reason we haven’t beaten this epidemic boils down to one simple fact: We value some lives more than others,” Theron stated dramatically. “We value men more than women. Straight love more than gay love. White skin more than black skin. The rich more than the poor. And adults more than adolescents.”
"HIV is not just transmitted by sex,” she declared amidst impassioned applause. “It's transmitted by sexism, racism, poverty and homophobia. And if we're going to end AIDS we have to cure the disease within our own hearts and within our own minds first."
Glamour writer Chelsea Stone was touched by the “moving speech.” “Now that’s powerful,” she wrote in an article covering the event.
Mic staff writer Jordyn Taylor affirmed the actress’ words. “Theron is right,” she wrote. “HIV disproportionately affects marginalized groups.” Taylor went on to list the alarmingly high rates of AIDS among men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women, sex workers and drug users. But of course, don’t you dare think that is a result of risky behaviors! It’s because of discrimination.
In a blatantly unscientific assertion, Theron stated: “AIDS does not discriminate on its own. It has no biological preference for black bodies, for women’s bodies, for gay bodies.”
Although her speech was ardently delivered, Theron should have reviewed the new research being presented at the July 18 – 22 conference. After comparison to the most recent data, the actress’ claims about biological discrimination fell utterly flat.
Black people do suffer from HIV and AIDS at higher rates. However, contrary to Theron’s statement, part of that reason is definitely biological. According to recent studies, the diversity of bacteria in the vaginal microbiome has a great deal to do with a woman’s defense against sexually transmitted diseases. More bacteria lead to higher pH and lower lactic acid levels, leading to inflammation and an increased susceptibility to infection. This condition, called BV, affects white and black women – you guessed it – differently. According to PBS NewsHour, the overall rate for US women is 29 percent, while for African American women specifically, it is 51 percent. Scientists believe that BV is one reason that HIV drugs have worked better on men than on women in sub-Saharan Africa, where BV rates are high.
Contrary to what Theron might think, “women are two to eight times more susceptible to contracting HIV during heterosexual intercourse than men.” There are several commonly acknowledged biological reasons for this including the warm and protective nature of the vagina, higher HIV levels carried in semen, the volume of semen that enters the vagina and a higher chance of injury to the vaginal wall during intercourse. Although the Huffington Post article covering Theron’s speech did not recognize African American women’s higher susceptibility to HIV, the news source did acknowledge women’s overall greater risk.
Finally, Theron’s statement that AIDS had "no biological preference" for gay bodies is irresponsibly false. According to the CDC’s Dr. Laura Kann, “the transmission risk for receptive anal sex is 17 times higher than [for] vaginal sex.” In the words of the number one LGBT news source The Advocate, “when it comes to HIV transmission, not all sex acts are created equal.” Furthermore, “MSM [men who have sex with men] have an HIV diagnosis rate at 57 times that of heterosexual men.” To make the numbers really hit home, The Advocate reported that in 2014, 80 percent of newly HIV-infected youth classified themselves as MSM.
This data is purely biological and doesn’t even take into account the cultural and behavioral choices that lead to greater risks among certain populations. But for fear of judging others, liberals are loathe to discuss risky sexual behaviors. It is much easier – and certainly more popular – to blame “privilege.”
Unfortunately, Charlize Theron is another liberal celebrity led by her heart rather than her head. Her activism is proof that she truly cares for those who have tragically lost their lives to AIDS, but spreading “facts” unsupported by data and blaming bigotry for the spread of HIV is no way to bring about change. It is unfortunate, but predictable, that the liberal media did not question her unsupported assertions.
Besides the medical advances that have and will continue to reduce the scale of the AIDS epidemic, conservative cultural change will bring much more healing than liberal acceptance of behaviors that directly lead to infection.
