Gay rights and AIDS awareness groups in
Taiwan are outraged at the local media's handling of a police raid on what
was called a gay orgy.
The video of 92 men wearing only underwear and
hiding their faces was rebroadcast several times after blood tests ordered
by authorities found that 28 of them had HIV.
News reports made it seem that casual contact with
the men could spread HIV. Neighbors of the men disinfected their homes;
police officers were taped cleaning the seats immediately after questioning
the suspects.
Gender-Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan spokeswoman
Wang Ping told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that this shows how homosexuality
in Taiwan is equated with HIV/AIDS.
"The case has caused panic in local society through
the media coverage. But the government has failed to give the public the
correct information on the disease, which does not transmit through mere
physical contacts."
While police found hundreds of used condoms, health
authorities said the men's drug use constituted "dangerous sexual behavior,"
adding that they would seek the prosecution of 14 of the HIV-positive men
for spreading the disease to others.
In Taiwan, a conviction under the local anti-AIDS
law could send someone to jail for up to seven years.
Activists say the implementation of the anti-AIDS
law not only violates the rights of homosexuals and HIV patients, but also
discourages others from getting tested.
"A gay friend e-mailed me today, saying he had
given up on a plan to go for a blood test after the incident," said Ivory
Lin, secretary-general of a group called Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy
Association of Taiwan.
"The men should at least have been allowed to put
on their clothes before police exposed them to cameras," Lin told AFP.
Wu Hsu-liang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Tongzhi
Hotline Association, told reporters the incident shows that Taiwan may
not be ready to accept homosexuals, even as the government considers allowing
same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption.
"The way the news was handled was typical of a
discriminatory, voyeuristic mentality, designed to send viewers the message,
'Yuck! It's disgusting. Everybody come have a look!'" he said.
