Sir Elton John's partner unveils Brighton Aids memorial (From The Argus)

Despite the rain, it was great to see the aids memorial unveiled today, though sceptical myself at the expenditure, the importance this sculpture has bought to Brighton is more point ion and significant than I could ever have imagined. Too many people regard hiv and aids as old fashioned, trivial and unimportant and it's time the message went out again as a reminder that hiv and aids isn't going to go away. Many thanks to everyone involved especially Romany Mark Bruce and David Furnish who speach was an inspiration

Where in Kemp Town is this?

tonyinbrighton wrote:
Where in Kemp Town is this?

New Steine

Those that work in London will be in for a rough time next week,just when the ribbing following the Gay parade was beginning to taper off.

Furnish may have the richest gay husband in the world, but his suit looks dreadful.
I like the sculpture though.

It's not that I don't support the statue in our square. But I thought tonight was supposed to be candlelit vigil! I imagined a peaceful and reflective ceremony in memory of those who have died. Instead, it is only 7:30pm and the techno music from the site is now so loud that the walls of my flat are shaking! I can't hear my partner talking when they are 3 feet away! I know it's Friday, but if I'd wanted to spend the evening clubbing I'd have gone out to one! But when we politely went to ask how long the thudding bass was likely to go on shaking the furniture, the man running the event couldn't have been ruder!
All of which makes me slightly ashamed to be gay, to be honest with you.

Oh dear New Steine. That's ruined the poignancy of the unveiling.
I suppose there will be a drag comedy telling jokes with everyone sharing poppers to celebrate.
Why is everything in Brighton so crass.

Yet again Brighton makes another crass public statement. I true waste of money. All done to make some people feel better about doing nothing to stop the spread of HIV. As someone who has had HIV for over 15 years, I find this memorial an insult. And when will that get their facts rights, people die from HIV infection not AIDS.

The best memorial are the 1000's of people who are living everyday with HIV. Holding onto the past is not helpful. I respect and honor those who have died because of HIV, I don't need a place in a square that will be surrounded by drunks to do that.

Gentleman Jim wrote:
Those that work in London will be in for a rough time next week,just when the ribbing following the Gay parade was beginning to taper off.

How sad that you feel that way. Maybe if you get "ribbed" about this when you go to work on Monday you could show that you really are a "gentleman" by explaining that you are actually proud to live in a City where the community (who paid for this memorial by individual donations) wish to remember their friends and loved ones (both straight and gay)who have lost their lives to this terrible disease.

I don't know what the message is here.If i wanted to erect a Cancer,Dementia,Cyst
ic Fibrosis or any other disease memorial,i think i'd struggle getting the support and permission.Not unless someone knows different?

greeg wrote:
I don't know what the message is here.If i wanted to erect a Cancer,Dementia,Cyst

ic Fibrosis or any other disease memorial,i think i'd struggle getting the support and permission.Not unless someone knows different?

reckon you are right

bronze artwork featuring two intertwined figures soaring upwards?

The argus must have the wrong picture as theirs shows a couple of figures crossed once at the lower thigh.
A good gateway into the Aids Capitol of Europe though even if it is tacky and ripe for a couple of traffic cones to be placed on those "entwined figures"

Why do we need an aids memorial? A memorial is for something that happened in the past. Aids is here now although apparently not as world threatening as it was a few years ago.

Why does the statue have two figures? I thought the reason that HIV was so rife in the gay community was because the majority of them have multiple partners.

cheezburger wrote:
Why does the statue have two figures? I thought the reason that HIV was so rife in the gay community was because the majority of them have multiple partners.

what exactly do you base that stupid crass assumption on?

I'm gay and I don't have multiple partners, I also don't have HIV.

How typical, a nasty homophobe rears his ugly head.

I think you'll find HIV affects everybody, and in particular most new infections are amongst STRAIGHT people, so get your facts right, IDIOT!

sussexone wrote:

cheezburger wrote: Why does the statue have two figures? I thought the reason that HIV was so rife in the gay community was because the majority of them have multiple partners.

what exactly do you base that stupid crass assumption on? I'm gay and I don't have multiple partners, I also don't have HIV. How typical, a nasty homophobe rears his ugly head. I think you'll find HIV affects everybody, and in particular most new infections are amongst STRAIGHT people, so get your facts right, IDIOT!

QQ
Get real. It is well accepted by everyone that the rise of HIV is due to gay people having multiple partners. To deny it just shows you to be thick. Stop playing the homophobe card. HIV doesnt affect everybody. It doesnt affect lesbians much does it! Im not anti gay in any way. Staright people do indeed get it. But by your reasoning if it affects sectors of the community equally which is clearly not the case. If that was the case then why do certain people think theres a gay monopoly on it?

sussexone wrote:

cheezburger wrote: Why does the statue have two figures? I thought the reason that HIV was so rife in the gay community was because the majority of them have multiple partners.

what exactly do you base that stupid crass assumption on? I'm gay and I don't have multiple partners, I also don't have HIV. How typical, a nasty homophobe rears his ugly head. I think you'll find HIV affects everybody, and in particular most new infections are amongst STRAIGHT people, so get your facts right, IDIOT!

Here we go. I was wondering when the homophobe card would show itself. Get YOUR facts straight. It's well documented and accepted that casual unprotected s*x between gay partners is the major (and may I say completely careless) reason why this disease spreads. Use protection. It really is NOT DIFFICULT. If you play with fire expect to get burnt. I'm certainly not saying that this is true in every case, as many people get the disease through infected blood through no fault of their own and I have sympathy for anyone that is terminally ill. However you will not see a memorial to lung cancer sufferers, despite many of them being careless with their health by smoking. And why does it have to have sexual undertones by showing bare a*sed rippling torsos. Surely this is like having a lung cancer memorial featuring two entwined cigarettes.

Crazy. A beautiful Aids memorial is unveiled in Brighton and there are still some miserable old b*******s to moan and groan about it on this website.

from the comments that have been made I think that the aids memorial unveiling speaks volumes.
hiv and aids isn't going away, there is no cure or vaccination and will affect everyone for generations to come.
the candlelit vigil was mainly represented by the generation who grew up or were affected by this terrible disease from the onslaught.
if this memorial brings about awareness and education to the younger generations it can only be a positive thing

I'm so disgusted at the pathetic attacks on this wonderful memorial, gay people, and those ill, and those dead by narrow minded, hate filled homophobes.
Yes, even with Brighton's large gay community we still harbour nasty and vile people who are like a cancer with their hatred towards people who have suffered greatly from a incurable and frightening disease that even today has a terrible stigma and ingnorance around it, as is so evident in the pure hatred shown in some of these posts, by uneducated and nasty people.

kaptain kirk, you should have got a job with the sun newspaper in the early eighties when they were writing about the 'innocent victims'. This implies that there are guilty victims.
And we all know who they are dont we kaptainkirk.
I suggest some of you on here try and educate yourselves about HIV/Aids, before spouting trash from your hateful homophobic mouths.
And to the poster who could only write about David Furnish's suit, how sad are you?
I would further like to give my thanks and admiration to all the people who have given this wonderful, meaninful, beautiful sculpture to the people of Brighton.

HIV/AIDS is a lifestyle disease suffered by both gay and straight alike. To me the memorial sits as a monument to people who failed to adjust their behaviour to account for the risks they took.

The memorial seems to glorify a condition that is the by-product of certain types of behaviour. And people wonder why Brighton isn't taken seriously?

The monument isnt for the people of Brighton. Its for the gay men of brighton.

Cheezeburger:
It is comments such as yours that concern me.

Your thoughts are also mirrored amongst many of the Heterosexual community and this is causing your lot to become infected with HIV, through ignorance.

Heterosexual HIV infection is rising.

It is true that the vast majority with HIV in this Country are gay, 80% actually with the other 20% made up of heterosexuals, but that figure is gradually rising.

Worldwide though the figures are reversed with 80% with HIV being Heterosexual and 20% being Homosexual.

There has been a lot of publicity recently regarding Elton John wishing to adopt a HIV infected child. That child never had one partner let alone multiple partners; his infection was passed from his mother, a Heterosexual female and there are many similar thousands.

So Cheezeburger, calm down on the bigotry rants and help yourself and your fellows remain negative please.

If we are trying to educate the wider community about HIV perhaps the statue would be better placed outside Churchill Square where the young people hang out.
Instead, the gay community moans about the vile comments on this blog yet have added to the stigma it already has about it being blamed/associated with HIV by unveiling it in Kemp Town by some Z list celebrity just because he happens to be married to a rich, famous gay. And the suit was rubbish. HIV does not discriminate as to whom it infects.
The main issue about HIV in the western world is now trying to discover why people (straight or gay) have unprotected sex when they know the risk, the links with social drug taking, alcohol etc. More money is being spent understanding the psychology of understanding risk behaviour than in health prevention.
This is why it would be pertinent to move the statue to a more prominent position to make people think.
This isn't the 80s when unsuspecting men and women got the disease as it had not been detected.
We know how we get it, we now need to find out why we still continue to get it when prevention is so simple.
And the multiple partners issue is nonsense. I am a straight man and I have friends who go abroad for sex, who have many, many partners, but take planned precautions against many infections.
This is why understanding the psychology of people is now key in the western world to helping prevent HIV.

Dear Sir

Never before has the Gay community been bought together in such a poignant way as it did on Friday October 9th at the unveiling of Brighton Aids Memorial, the first of its kind in Britain.
With the coming together of the three Gay Choirs at St Mary's also a first, set the scene for what followed with the reading of the names at the Candlelit Vigil in New Steine Gardens which is the fine setting for this master piece by Romany Mark Bruce. Credit must go to those who bought this whole thing together with the dignity it deserved and the tireless work done by the often unappreciated James Ledward! For Paul Elgood's foresight is to be commended.
Let’s hope this can now be carried over for years to come in memory of all our friends and bringing together the community in which we live amongst.

Trevor Pharo

Upper Rock Gardens

tinkywinky wrote:
I'm so disgusted at the pathetic attacks on this wonderful memorial, gay people, and those ill, and those dead by narrow minded, hate filled homophobes. Yes, even with Brighton's large gay community we still harbour nasty and vile people who are like a cancer with their hatred towards people who have suffered greatly from a incurable and frightening disease that even today has a terrible stigma and ingnorance around it, as is so evident in the pure hatred shown in some of these posts, by uneducated and nasty people. kaptain kirk, you should have got a job with the sun newspaper in the early eighties when they were writing about the 'innocent victims'. This implies that there are guilty victims. And we all know who they are dont we kaptainkirk. I suggest some of you on here try and educate yourselves about HIV/Aids, before spouting trash from your hateful homophobic mouths. And to the poster who could only write about David Furnish's suit, how sad are you? I would further like to give my thanks and admiration to all the people who have given this wonderful, meaninful, beautiful sculpture to the people of Brighton.

Erm excuse me homophobe card number two. Find something that it factually incorrect about my post. My brother is gay, many of my friends are gay and guess what, even they agree with my views. I have no hatred towards gays at all. The silent majority of gays just wish that the vocal minority would shut up about it and conduct their private affairs behind closed doors. FACT, the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to casual unprotected s*x between gay men. It IS preventable and has been well known since the disease first appeared in the 80s that you can prevent infection by not being promiscuous and wearing protection. I AM NOT A HOMOPHOBE BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTIME I OR SOMEONE ELSE CRITICIZES ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAY COMMUNITY THE HOMOPHOBE CARD IS PLAYED. I beleive in live and let live. AS I SAID BEFORE, I feel utter sympathy for anyone who is terminally ill, but as with lung cancer, many of the deaths are preventable.
This memorial could have been tastefully designed without the sexual undertones of a bare a*sed rippling torso.

I am INSULTED that you called me a homophobe and DEMAND and apology.

CaptainKirk wrote:

tinkywinky wrote: I'm so disgusted at the pathetic attacks on this wonderful memorial, gay people, and those ill, and those dead by narrow minded, hate filled homophobes. Yes, even with Brighton's large gay community we still harbour nasty and vile people who are like a cancer with their hatred towards people who have suffered greatly from a incurable and frightening disease that even today has a terrible stigma and ingnorance around it, as is so evident in the pure hatred shown in some of these posts, by uneducated and nasty people. kaptain kirk, you should have got a job with the sun newspaper in the early eighties when they were writing about the 'innocent victims'. This implies that there are guilty victims. And we all know who they are dont we kaptainkirk. I suggest some of you on here try and educate yourselves about HIV/Aids, before spouting trash from your hateful homophobic mouths. And to the poster who could only write about David Furnish's suit, how sad are you? I would further like to give my thanks and admiration to all the people who have given this wonderful, meaninful, beautiful sculpture to the people of Brighton.

Erm excuse me homophobe card number two. Find something that it factually incorrect about my post. My brother is gay, many of my friends are gay and guess what, even they agree with my views. I have no hatred towards gays at all. The silent majority of gays just wish that the vocal minority would shut up about it and conduct their private affairs behind closed doors. FACT, the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to casual unprotected s*x between gay men. It IS preventable and has been well known since the disease first appeared in the 80s that you can prevent infection by not being promiscuous and wearing protection. I AM NOT A HOMOPHOBE BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTIME I OR SOMEONE ELSE CRITICIZES ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAY COMMUNITY THE HOMOPHOBE CARD IS PLAYED. I beleive in live and let live. AS I SAID BEFORE, I feel utter sympathy for anyone who is terminally ill, but as with lung cancer, many of the deaths are preventable. This memorial could have been tastefully designed without the sexual undertones of a bare a*sed rippling torso. I am INSULTED that you called me a homophobe and DEMAND and apology.

I find your both comments both ignorant and homophobic.

chrisbrighton wrote:

CaptainKirk wrote:

tinkywinky wrote: I'm so disgusted at the pathetic attacks on this wonderful memorial, gay people, and those ill, and those dead by narrow minded, hate filled homophobes. Yes, even with Brighton's large gay community we still harbour nasty and vile people who are like a cancer with their hatred towards people who have suffered greatly from a incurable and frightening disease that even today has a terrible stigma and ingnorance around it, as is so evident in the pure hatred shown in some of these posts, by uneducated and nasty people. kaptain kirk, you should have got a job with the sun newspaper in the early eighties when they were writing about the 'innocent victims'. This implies that there are guilty victims. And we all know who they are dont we kaptainkirk. I suggest some of you on here try and educate yourselves about HIV/Aids, before spouting trash from your hateful homophobic mouths. And to the poster who could only write about David Furnish's suit, how sad are you? I would further like to give my thanks and admiration to all the people who have given this wonderful, meaninful, beautiful sculpture to the people of Brighton.

Erm excuse me homophobe card number two. Find something that it factually incorrect about my post. My brother is gay, many of my friends are gay and guess what, even they agree with my views. I have no hatred towards gays at all. The silent majority of gays just wish that the vocal minority would shut up about it and conduct their private affairs behind closed doors. FACT, the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to casual unprotected s*x between gay men. It IS preventable and has been well known since the disease first appeared in the 80s that you can prevent infection by not being promiscuous and wearing protection. I AM NOT A HOMOPHOBE BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTIME I OR SOMEONE ELSE CRITICIZES ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAY COMMUNITY THE HOMOPHOBE CARD IS PLAYED. I beleive in live and let live. AS I SAID BEFORE, I feel utter sympathy for anyone who is terminally ill, but as with lung cancer, many of the deaths are preventable. This memorial could have been tastefully designed without the sexual undertones of a bare a*sed rippling torso. I am INSULTED that you called me a homophobe and DEMAND and apology.

I find your both comments both ignorant and homophobic.

Thank you. You've just proved my point. By the way, what is homophobic and ignorant about it?

Looking at the evidence here, all I can see is that CaptainKirk makes a valid point, then he proceeds to be insulted without any valid arguments agaist him. Keep your chin up and keep arguing back CaptainKirk, they've got to come up with a valid come back at some point instead of insulting you.

Thanks Mr President. Although I'm not sure I can be bothered anymore. I try and be objective, not calling anyone names and then they hurl insults instead of going through what I have said point by point and making a valid argument. I'm going out now but be warned. I would have had a few beers when I return.

Why does it always end up in name calling? So boring.

HIV stands for Human Immmunodeficiency Virus, so all humans are potentially at risk. World wide HIV is mainly seen in heterosexuals as well as gay men.

This issue for debate here is about the memorial. Does it really make a difference? Will it stop people form putting them selves at risk? Will it address the stigma people with HIV have to put up with, even within their own community (yes I mean the "gay community")? My reply is probably not.

Will it cost money for its up-keep? Yes, money that could be donated to HIV charities locally that do support the living.

And by the way its not the first AIDS memorial in the UK, Manchester have had one for a new of years.

What is wrong with a lot of the ignorant people who have posted here? HIV and Aids is not restricted to gays as many of you have said. I thought that belief was well and truly dead. If the truth is known the disease is spread by irresponsible people having sex without protection - straight or gay and it is about time these bigots realised this.

Rita Snatch wrote:
Cheezeburger: It is comments such as yours that concern me. Your thoughts are also mirrored amongst many of the Heterosexual community and this is causing your lot to become infected with HIV, through ignorance. Heterosexual HIV infection is rising. It is true that the vast majority with HIV in this Country are gay, 80% actually with the other 20% made up of heterosexuals, but that figure is gradually rising. Worldwide though the figures are reversed with 80% with HIV being Heterosexual and 20% being Homosexual. There has been a lot of publicity recently regarding Elton John wishing to adopt a HIV infected child. That child never had one partner let alone multiple partners; his infection was passed from his mother, a Heterosexual female and there are many similar thousands. So Cheezeburger, calm down on the bigotry rants and help yourself and your fellows remain negative please.

You're obviously associating heterosexuals sexual behaviour with their having HIV/aids.I stand to be corrected on this,but isn't the majority of the heterosexual community that have this disease,drug addicts?

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:
Cheezeburger: It is comments such as yours that concern me. Your thoughts are also mirrored amongst many of the Heterosexual community and this is causing your lot to become infected with HIV, through ignorance. Heterosexual HIV infection is rising. It is true that the vast majority with HIV in this Country are gay, 80% actually with the other 20% made up of heterosexuals, but that figure is gradually rising. Worldwide though the figures are reversed with 80% with HIV being Heterosexual and 20% being Homosexual. There has been a lot of publicity recently regarding Elton John wishing to adopt a HIV infected child. That child never had one partner let alone multiple partners; his infection was passed from his mother, a Heterosexual female and there are many similar thousands. So Cheezeburger, calm down on the bigotry rants and help yourself and your fellows remain negative please.

You're obviously associating heterosexuals sexual behaviour with their having HIV/aids.I stand to be corrected on this,but isn't the majority of the heterosexual community that have this disease,drug addicts?

Once again you are wrong, the majority of heterosexuals who are infected with HIV are not drug users.

I've just seen this memorial and it is very beautiful. Before this site dissolves into a bath of bile and vitriol I'd like to thank the artist, the fund raisers and the people who made it happen. It's a wonderful gift to the city.
To those who are clearly confused as to what a memorial is, it's a focus for rememberance and reflection (it even says that in the piece above!) Like all memorials, the people who will gain most benefit from it will be those people (gay AND straight) who have lost loved ones. And like other memorials, if you're lucky enough not to have been affected you can at least respect that others have been and just leave it at that.
What a bunch of moaners! Some people got together and did a nice thing. You'd think they'd got together and pee'd on you!

I thought the speakers at the ceremony, especially david Furnish, were very good. We even had a titter at the "bottom up" approach to fund raising! However, the statue I think is dull and pointless - why not relate it to Africa where the real problem is, not gay men?

freerangevoice wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: Cheezeburger: It is comments such as yours that concern me. Your thoughts are also mirrored amongst many of the Heterosexual community and this is causing your lot to become infected with HIV, through ignorance. Heterosexual HIV infection is rising. It is true that the vast majority with HIV in this Country are gay, 80% actually with the other 20% made up of heterosexuals, but that figure is gradually rising. Worldwide though the figures are reversed with 80% with HIV being Heterosexual and 20% being Homosexual. There has been a lot of publicity recently regarding Elton John wishing to adopt a HIV infected child. That child never had one partner let alone multiple partners; his infection was passed from his mother, a Heterosexual female and there are many similar thousands. So Cheezeburger, calm down on the bigotry rants and help yourself and your fellows remain negative please.

You're obviously associating heterosexuals sexual behaviour with their having HIV/aids.I stand to be corrected on this,but isn't the majority of the heterosexual community that have this disease,drug addicts?

Once again you are wrong, the majority of heterosexuals who are infected with HIV are not drug users.

"the majority of heterosexuals who are infected with HIV are not drug users",you'd have quoted the statistics if you had them,so i suppose it's because you say so?

Argus headline states "Sir Elton John's partner unveils Brighton Aids memorial". Sounds like Mr Furnish is just another wife stuck in the shadow of a very succesful husband. Looks like the gay community have got the equal rights they've been fighting for. Welcome to my world my gay chums.

Has any one thought about its artist merit - its horrible

Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience.

cheezburger, brighton says...
11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09

Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience.


Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners.

Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace?

You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting.

Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

Well said Rita.

Rita Snatch wrote:
cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

Agreed. I find it incredible that some of the posters on here just seem to want to vent their homophobia or unhappiness with themselves and their lives in general. I personally think that it is a fine piece of art but that is not the point...it is a memorial to all those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS.Some of the posters need to show respect for the feelings of the families, friends and loved ones who have lost their lives.

So the freespeechphobe facists rear their ugly head again, whining that unless we all post simpering and patronising comments about a new statue we're all evil neandertals.

Thankfully we still have some free thinkers in Brighton (both gay and straight) who consider this memorial to be a pitiful and entirely vacuous gesture. It is entirely valid to enquire why such a memorial is necessary when many thousands of people in this country die of other illnesses.

Indeed for the most part Aids is preventable.........
.dont die of ignorance we were once advised so is that mantra now wrong? Contrast this with congenital disease and I know where the balance of my sympathy lies.

That it is in Brighton and Kemp Town is another paradox and only adds fuel to accusation of pandering to the tired old stereotype of gay freindly Brighton. Surely somewhere less enlightened would be more appropriate, say Manningham in Bradford or Bury Park in Luton or Kingston Jamaica.

There are undeniable facts about Aids and in terms of treatment costs in the UK they are rocketing, predominantly because of sub saharan migration and continued dispropotionate infection rates in the homesexual community.

Check out the Government response to the Health Select Committee's Third Report of Session 2004-2005. for clarity if you want.

Security word bent-hole........wor
d.

Rita Snatch wrote:
cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

Enough with the armchair psychology you are so bad at. If anyone critisises anything 'gay' in Brighton two cards are always played. The homophobe one, and the you must be unhappy one. If the memorial is for everyone then it should be in the centre of town surely. Not in the 'gay village' bit. I know its meant soley for gay men, you know its solely for gay men, so shut up. Its a bit like pride in that respect. We all know its not for everyone, but the organisers go to great lengths to say it is in case the money dries up and they dont get support. But its all fine. If the memorial is only for gay men in the gay district then fine, just dont pretend otherwise. For over 25 years the message has been dont have unsafe sex with multiple partners. But its no longer dont die of ignorance, its dont die of sheer stupidity because you ahve been warned.

Rita Snatch wrote:
cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:
cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct.

So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets.

The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead.

Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

cheezburger wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

Enough with the armchair psychology you are so bad at. If anyone critisises anything 'gay' in Brighton two cards are always played. The homophobe one, and the you must be unhappy one. If the memorial is for everyone then it should be in the centre of town surely. Not in the 'gay village' bit. I know its meant soley for gay men, you know its solely for gay men, so shut up. Its a bit like pride in that respect. We all know its not for everyone, but the organisers go to great lengths to say it is in case the money dries up and they dont get support. But its all fine. If the memorial is only for gay men in the gay district then fine, just dont pretend otherwise. For over 25 years the message has been dont have unsafe sex with multiple partners. But its no longer dont die of ignorance, its dont die of sheer stupidity because you ahve been warned.

cheezburger, I feel very sorry for you. You are either a sad homophobe or a latent homosexual yourself who cannot, for whatever reason, come to terms with his sexual orientation .In either case I suggest you seek help from a Counsellor. try www.counselling-dire
ctoru.org.uk

Some have commented on the need to have a memorial to those who have died of HIV/AIDS (rather than any other illness) - I would have thought the answer was obvious from the tone of so many of the comments that have unfortunately been posted here. Generally, people who have cystic fibrosis, cancer, heart disease etc do not face the amount of ignorance, prejudice and stigma that is sadly still often associated with HIV. The situation was even worse 10, 15, 25 years ago, when the death rate was much higher than it is now, and many of those whose names were read out on Friday night also worked hard to support others and to improve local services. Yes, the situation is different now and most of us do have access to information to enable us to stay safe but those who think that anyone who becomes infected nowadays has only themselves to blame (which some posters suggest) should be thankful that they obviously lead very uncomplicated and fortunate lives. The risk of getting any sexually transmitted infection is increased if you have unprotected s*x, and yes, the more partners you have unprotected s*x with, the higher the risk. But actually it only takes 1 'accident' for someone to be infected. Or for someone to trust their husband/wife/partner and assume they didn't need to use a condom, because they were faithful...only to discover that the other person had been having an affair. If the memorial serves to remind people of the continuing need to look after themselves and each other, that will be brilliant. If it helps remind us that we're lucky to be in a country where everyone who needs it can access HIV treatment, but that most people worldwide don't, that will also be good. But the main purpose of the memorial is to remember the impact of this disease on our community here in B&H, particularly in the days before effective treatment. If you haven't been affected then I'm very pleased for you, but we are all still part of one community - people of B&H. If you don't like the memorial or don't want to visit it, that's your right.

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

Not really! I don't think that the only people who go to the Cenotaph or their local war memorial are those who lost a relative in war and don't have a grave to visit. Memorials can act as a focus for the community, including for those not directly affected to show solidarity with those who are. Now that so many people are cremated there often isn't a headstone or grave to visit in the traditional sense and this gives us the opportunity to be reminded/ to remember in the midst of our city.

Red Shoes wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

Not really! I don't think that the only people who go to the Cenotaph or their local war memorial are those who lost a relative in war and don't have a grave to visit. Memorials can act as a focus for the community, including for those not directly affected to show solidarity with those who are. Now that so many people are cremated there often isn't a headstone or grave to visit in the traditional sense and this gives us the opportunity to be reminded/ to remember in the midst of our city.

You're biased,if this memorial is supposed to be all so community encompassing,why was it unveiled by a homosexual?Rejoinder that!

greeg wrote:

Red Shoes wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

Not really! I don't think that the only people who go to the Cenotaph or their local war memorial are those who lost a relative in war and don't have a grave to visit. Memorials can act as a focus for the community, including for those not directly affected to show solidarity with those who are. Now that so many people are cremated there often isn't a headstone or grave to visit in the traditional sense and this gives us the opportunity to be reminded/ to remember in the midst of our city.

You're biased,if this memorial is supposed to be all so community encompassing,why was it unveiled by a homosexual?Rejoinder that!

****General Greeg Alert****

Reminder to everyone.


NEVER ALLOW A HOMOSEXUAL TO UNVEIL ANYTHING...

Soon we will advance backwards and remove the right to vote for women.

Will you marry me Greeg please, I love aggrogant, insensitive and stupid men and I feel that I love you more each time you write.

I hope he lives in glasgow. We dont want him darkening the doorstep of Brighton with his blinkered views!

security word:
uneducated-homophobe
s

chrisbrighton wrote:

cheezburger wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

Enough with the armchair psychology you are so bad at. If anyone critisises anything 'gay' in Brighton two cards are always played. The homophobe one, and the you must be unhappy one. If the memorial is for everyone then it should be in the centre of town surely. Not in the 'gay village' bit. I know its meant soley for gay men, you know its solely for gay men, so shut up. Its a bit like pride in that respect. We all know its not for everyone, but the organisers go to great lengths to say it is in case the money dries up and they dont get support. But its all fine. If the memorial is only for gay men in the gay district then fine, just dont pretend otherwise. For over 25 years the message has been dont have unsafe sex with multiple partners. But its no longer dont die of ignorance, its dont die of sheer stupidity because you ahve been warned.

cheezburger, I feel very sorry for you. You are either a sad homophobe or a latent homosexual yourself who cannot, for whatever reason, come to terms with his sexual orientation .In either case I suggest you seek help from a Counsellor. try www.counselling-dire ctoru.org.uk

Here we go with your tired old cliches. Anyone who you think is homophobic, which i am not, must be in the closet. Yes and many racists are closet blacks.

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Red Shoes wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

Not really! I don't think that the only people who go to the Cenotaph or their local war memorial are those who lost a relative in war and don't have a grave to visit. Memorials can act as a focus for the community, including for those not directly affected to show solidarity with those who are. Now that so many people are cremated there often isn't a headstone or grave to visit in the traditional sense and this gives us the opportunity to be reminded/ to remember in the midst of our city.

You're biased,if this memorial is supposed to be all so community encompassing,why was it unveiled by a homosexual?Rejoinder that!

****General Greeg Alert**** Reminder to everyone. NEVER ALLOW A HOMOSEXUAL TO UNVEIL ANYTHING... Soon we will advance backwards and remove the right to vote for women. Will you marry me Greeg please, I love aggrogant, insensitive and stupid men and I feel that I love you more each time you write.

You should have thought about what you were going to say before you posted,that way you might have gotten around to answering my question.Calling a homosexual a homosexual is not an insult by the way,if you don't know that,you don't know anything!

TheInsider wrote:
Oh dear New Steine. That's ruined the poignancy of the unveiling. I suppose there will be a drag comedy telling jokes with everyone sharing poppers to celebrate. Why is everything in Brighton so crass.

Because gay culture is crass. You only have to walk down St James Street to see that.

Chris in Brighton wrote:

TheInsider wrote: Oh dear New Steine. That's ruined the poignancy of the unveiling. I suppose there will be a drag comedy telling jokes with everyone sharing poppers to celebrate. Why is everything in Brighton so crass.

Because gay culture is crass. You only have to walk down St James Street to see that.

Well thank god its not as bad as the heterosexual culture of London Road!

Two points being missed here:1) In Africa where HIV/AIDS is rampant, governments refuse to accept it exists and so it continues to spread at an alarming rate 2) If the Pope allowed devote Roman Catholics to use condoms the rate in that community would slow down too.

This memorial has caused major debate which I applaud........at the end of the day even bigots recognise that there is a problem. We ALL need to pull together to deal with this issue.

Good. Two days later and chrisbrighton and tinkywinky still have not come back with valid arguments for their accusations about me. Cmon chrisbrighton and tinkywinky. Go though my posts point by point and back up what you said about me. Dont just throw insults at me and call me names. Tell me what is incorrect about my posts. You've had two days to think about it.

"We ALL need to pull together to deal with this issue".

Ho ho. I could say something really smutty at this point!!

greeg wrote:

Red Shoes wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote:

greeg wrote:

Rita Snatch wrote: cheezburger, brighton says... 11:08pm Sat 10 Oct 09 Its vulgar, so fitting with its intended audience. Can i just remind Cheezburger that the 'intended audience' are mums, dads. brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, lovers,workmates or partners. Are you really calling all those people vulgar, when they visit the memorial for solace? You really do have an unhealthy streak of hatred and nastiness inside you! You may well be living an unhappy life, but that doesn't excuse your vile spouting. Will your view change when someone close to you becomes infected with HIV or do you not have any friends or family?

People are more likely to visit the graves of their loved ones for solace,one of the reasons why it's attracted so much opposition.

Oh, Silly Old Me, of course you are very correct. So let us knock down ALL those memorials found in almost all Cities, towns, villages and hamlets. The Cenotaph could be used as rubble for a new hospital foundation and we should stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday each year; tell them to visit graves instead. Of course you are correct Greeg; well done for spotting that flaw.

"knock down ALL those memorials","stop all those silly ill-informed people from gathering at The Cenotaph",you're not making yourself look the sharpest tool in the box talking like that.The WTC site is visited by mourners because there are no graves,does that make you understand?

Not really! I don't think that the only people who go to the Cenotaph or their local war memorial are those who lost a relative in war and don't have a grave to visit. Memorials can act as a focus for the community, including for those not directly affected to show solidarity with those who are. Now that so many people are cremated there often isn't a headstone or grave to visit in the traditional sense and this gives us the opportunity to be reminded/ to remember in the midst of our city.

You're biased,if this memorial is supposed to be all so community encompassing,why was it unveiled by a homosexual?Rejoinder that!

I'm not sure in what way I'm supposed to be biased - I'm a straight (married) woman and don't have HIV. As far as I'm concerned the sexuality of the person unveiling the memorial is less relevant than his work for an HIV charity. (Though as the majority of those who've died with HIV in B&H were gay I don't think it unreasonable to ask a gay man.) Apparently a previous suggestion to invite Gordon Brown to do it was squashed by politicians from other parties...so perhaps it's not all a 'gay plot' as you seem to think;-)

CaptainKirk wrote:
Good. Two days later and chrisbrighton and tinkywinky still have not come back with valid arguments for their accusations about me. Cmon chrisbrighton and tinkywinky. Go though my posts point by point and back up what you said about me. Dont just throw insults at me and call me names. Tell me what is incorrect about my posts. You've had two days to think about it.

CaptainKirk - I'm not interested in name calling, but you asked what was incorrect about your posts. Well, to start with, you said 'fact - the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to unprotected casual s*x between gay men'... if you'd like to check out the figures on the Health Protection Agency website http://www.hpa.org.u
k/web/HPAweb&HPAwebS
tandard/HPAweb_C/125
2660002826 you will see that in the UK 'an estimated 58% (4220) of persons newly diagnosed in 2008 acquired their infection heterosexually and 38% (2760) through sex between men'.

Red Shoes wrote:

CaptainKirk wrote: Good. Two days later and chrisbrighton and tinkywinky still have not come back with valid arguments for their accusations about me. Cmon chrisbrighton and tinkywinky. Go though my posts point by point and back up what you said about me. Dont just throw insults at me and call me names. Tell me what is incorrect about my posts. You've had two days to think about it.

CaptainKirk - I'm not interested in name calling, but you asked what was incorrect about your posts. Well, to start with, you said 'fact - the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to unprotected casual s*x between gay men'... if you'd like to check out the figures on the Health Protection Agency website http://www.hpa.org.u k/web/HPAweb&HPA
webS tandard/HPAweb_C/125 2660002826 you will see that in the UK 'an estimated 58% (4220) of persons newly diagnosed in 2008 acquired their infection heterosexually and 38% (2760) through sex between men'.

Thank you Red Shoes, an excellent point made. This was something that I did not know. It would be interesting though, and I do not know what I would find, to see how the infection spilled across into the hetero population in these cases. Obviously we know that some people are born with it, people get it through infected blood, sharing needles etc, but it would be interesting to see how they were infected. I do though stand by the fact that a very high percentage of these deaths are preventable (2760 of them for a start), plus of course, whatever the percentage that get the disease by sharing needles (I cannot say the number without more information). That's still a large number of preventable deaths. I would still imagine that would be well above 50%.

By the way, thank you for not calling me a homophobe like the rude people here before (they still have not answered as to why).

Why an AIDS memorial? What about one for Leukaemia? Bowel Cancer? (Not Cool, enough?)

And having read some of the (extremely dull, predictable and repetitive) arguments above, I wonder why the apparently homosexual amongst us feel that this memorial is just for them?

CaptainKirk wrote:

Red Shoes wrote:

CaptainKirk wrote: Good. Two days later and chrisbrighton and tinkywinky still have not come back with valid arguments for their accusations about me. Cmon chrisbrighton and tinkywinky. Go though my posts point by point and back up what you said about me. Dont just throw insults at me and call me names. Tell me what is incorrect about my posts. You've had two days to think about it.

CaptainKirk - I'm not interested in name calling, but you asked what was incorrect about your posts. Well, to start with, you said 'fact - the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to unprotected casual s*x between gay men'... if you'd like to check out the figures on the Health Protection Agency website http://www.hpa.org.u k/web/HPAweb&HPA webS tandard/HPAweb_C/125 2660002826 you will see that in the UK 'an estimated 58% (4220) of persons newly diagnosed in 2008 acquired their infection heterosexually and 38% (2760) through sex between men'.

Thank you Red Shoes, an excellent point made. This was something that I did not know. It would be interesting though, and I do not know what I would find, to see how the infection spilled across into the hetero population in these cases. Obviously we know that some people are born with it, people get it through infected blood, sharing needles etc, but it would be interesting to see how they were infected. I do though stand by the fact that a very high percentage of these deaths are preventable (2760 of them for a start), plus of course, whatever the percentage that get the disease by sharing needles (I cannot say the number without more information). That's still a large number of preventable deaths. I would still imagine that would be well above 50%. By the way, thank you for not calling me a homophobe like the rude people here before (they still have not answered as to why).

YAWN!

Red Shoes wrote:

CaptainKirk wrote: Good. Two days later and chrisbrighton and tinkywinky still have not come back with valid arguments for their accusations about me. Cmon chrisbrighton and tinkywinky. Go though my posts point by point and back up what you said about me. Dont just throw insults at me and call me names. Tell me what is incorrect about my posts. You've had two days to think about it.

CaptainKirk - I'm not interested in name calling, but you asked what was incorrect about your posts. Well, to start with, you said 'fact - the vast spread of HIV in this country is due to unprotected casual s*x between gay men'... if you'd like to check out the figures on the Health Protection Agency website http://www.hpa.org.u k/web/HPAweb&HPA
webS tandard/HPAweb_C/125 2660002826 you will see that in the UK 'an estimated 58% (4220) of persons newly diagnosed in 2008 acquired their infection heterosexually and 38% (2760) through sex between men'.

What percentage of the 58%were needle sharers?

greeg GREEG.... when are you going to marry me? You haven't answered me yet.

You know that I get turned on by augumentative, bigotted, blinkered, stupid, ill-informed and irrational men.

I love you

xxx

Rita Snatch wrote:
greeg GREEG.... when are you going to marry me? You haven't answered me yet. You know that I get turned on by augumentative, bigotted, blinkered, stupid, ill-informed and irrational men. I love you xxx

Ms Snatch,(that's your real name i take it)you're obviously not a psychological profiler,otherwise you wouldn't have gotten me so wrong.Seems like you've a response to everything,but an answer to nothing.
Oh,i love you too.