sday • October 10, 1995
Cajmpus
Page 5 • The Battalion
rograms aimed at AIDS awareness year-round
2 .free HIV testing
luring AIDS Awareness
bnth in addition to
^ e- and post-testing
ounseling is being
(fered by the Planned
renthood clinic.
||leslie New
If Battalion
banned Parenthood, AIDS
Irvices and Aggie REACH are
iponsoring educational pro-
■ms, testing and special ac
tivities for AIDS Awareness
Month in October.
argaret Griffith, an HIV
inselor and outreach educator
,h Planned Parenthood and
tlth education graduate stu-
t, said the main purpose of the
[nth is to get people to think
iut HIV and AIDS.
People need to find out about
)S, and if they know someone
h HIV, do something special
them,” Griffith said. “Share in-
t
CL
.nek
formation with friends; bring it
[AIDS] to the forefront instead of
the back of people’s minds.”
AIDS Awareness Month be
gan with Fitness Fest Oct. 1, an
aerobics-a-thon. A part of “A
Step Toward Awareness,” the
fest was sponsored by AIDS
Services and Alpha Phi Omega,
a service organization.
AIDS Services sponsored a
meeting where persons with
HIV and family members of
those with HIV spoke. The
meeting included a perfor
mance from Voices of Praise, an
African-American vocal group.
Gloria McGowen, AIDS Ser
vices volunteer coordinator,
said the turnout was small, but
the audience reacted positively
to the speakers.
“It was a rejuvenating experi
ence because it touched those al
ready involved and motivated oth
ers to take a step by volunteer
ing,” McGowen said.
AIDS Services offers free
HIV testing, counseling, out
reach education programs and
case management for those who
are have HIV.
“Case management is for those
who are HIV positive, and it be
gins the day they receive a posi
tive test result,” McGowen said.
“It focuses on the needs of the in
dividual, medical needs or any
needs that may surface as a re
sult of the test results.”
coming through the back door.”
McGowen stressed that edu
cation and awareness does not
need to stop once AIDS Aware
ness Month ends. She encour
aged people to share accurate
information with others.
"Many believe that it is not at our
front door — but it could be right
around the corner and coming
through the back door."
— Gloria McGowen
HIV counselor and outreach educator
McGowen said other activities
include area-special worship ser
vices at local churches, a food dri
ve and a walk-a-thon fund-raiser
to expand AIDS Services.
“We want to let one person
actually hear and take heed
that they have a personal oblig
ation to be tested and to take
precautions to stop the spread
of the disease,” she said. “Many
believe that it is not at our
front door — but it could be
right around the corner and
The Planned Parenthood clinic
is offering free HIV testing for the
month, in addition to pre- and
post-testing counseling.
Griffith said there is a growing
trend of couples coming in for
AIDS testing, who have had pro
tected sex, but want to stop using
condoms. However, she said, most
people don’t want to know if they
have HIV.
“If you don’t know, it doesn’t
mean you’re not HIV positive,”
she said. “It just means you
don’t know.”
Erin Foley, assistant health
education coordinator for the A.P.
Beutel Health Center, said the
health center offers confidential
testing and has a group that
comes into the center offering
anonymous testing.
She also said there has been
an increase in organizational re
quests for AIDS educational pro
grams from Aggie REACH, a peer
education organization.
Tania Whitten, sexual health
executive for Aggie REACH and a
junior biology major, said the in
crease is partially a result of
AIDS Awareness Month.
“People are becoming more
aware of HIV, and it is on all the
new television shows,” Whitten
said. “People have questions and
misconceptions about HIV. We
try to clear those up.”
Planned Parenthood, AIDS
Services and A.P. Beutel will
have tables at the Health Fair to
morrow in the MSG relating to
AIDS and other health issues.
Anthony Falzarano
Husband, father, former homosexual
‘1 know what it’s like to be rejected by the
men I should have been able to trust the most.”
"I was lonely and isolated as a child...My
father was psychologically absent, and my
older brother would taunt me for being
intelligent and not very athletic. I wanted so
much to be like him and his rejection was
hard to take. I was so desperate for male
affirmation and touch that when a school
teacher showed me attention, I was easy
prey. I was sexually abused by at least four
others by the time I hit 18... and while I
seemed happy on the outside, I was a
hurting puppy on the inside. I felt dirty and
unattractive...and had no self-esteem. So
when I went to college, there were those
who were ready to help this broken kid
accept a gay identity. And I bought it hook,
line and sinker...I spent 9 years going from
guy to guy looking for my “ideal” lover...until
a Christian man helped me see that I would
never be satisfied in any life outside of God’s
purpose for me. I got help from people who
saw the hurt on the inside, not the identity
on the outside. So, don’t buy the lie. You
don’t have to be gay.”
There is
another wav out.
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