Merv Griffin Should Have Died of AIDS, The Bitch

Which is the gist of Mike Signorile's The Gist.

Words frankly fail me at this point.

Especially given this rant.

First off, Griffin's closet kept him shockingly silent while he had access to the president of the United States as his own people were dying. This man was intimate with the Reagans (and Nancy Reagan in particular) during the height of the AIDS epidemic in 80s, with few treatments available and fear-mongering having gripped the media. Griffin's gay brothers -- his friends, his lovers, his people across America, around the world -- suffered and met horrific deaths. And yet, because he was closeted it is highly unlikely he ever made the connection for the Reagans (between himself and those who were suffering and dying), pointed out the government negligence, or even talked openly as a gay person.

As I have pointed out previously, blaming the Reagan administration for the spread of HIV is roughly akin to blaming them for your purchase of parachute pants; the timing is right, but the correlation is way more dependent on your individual actions than on theirs.

What makes Signorile's rant in this case sadly hilarious and ironic is how he blasts Griffin for supposedly being closeted and promiscuous -- but can't explain how Griffin lived to be 82 and died of prostate cancer. He argues that Griffin's "lovers" were all dying of AIDS, but never bothers to explain how Griffin, who he claims was f*cking everything on two legs, so magically avoided it.

In short, Signorile's argument shows that closeted gay men avoid AIDS and die of old-age diseases, wealthy, satisfied, and respected, while out men die young of AIDS, poor, unhappy, and ignored.

It would be funny if it weren't so tragically misguided.

In my opinion, this is the main reason that the AIDS epidemic is now well into its second quarter-century and entrenched to the endemic stage in the gay population -- so much that 15 to 19 new infections in San Francisco per week, all of a disease that is almost completely preventable, is considered an improvement.

In short, it's because Mike Signorile and his ilk would rather blame the behavior of dead straight people than deal with that of live gay ones.