Andy Bell from Erasure: "I always wanted HIV"

[Edgar]

This is from The Sun and while I assumed he's been mis-quoted, he actually did say this, in this interview (click here). He also said in Boyz magazine, something like "all my friends have it, so when I got it I just thought 'The more, the merrier!'"

What an idiot. No wonder some ignorant people think HIV is a "gay disease"

POP star Andy Bell says he always WANTED to be HIV positive.

The gay Erasure singer, 40, revealed he is HIV positive last month — six years after diagnosis.

And in a new interview he says: “You are going to think this strange, but I wanted to be HIV positive. I thought HIV was a touchstone of being gay.

“But I’m a fighter. They will have to take me from this world kicking and screaming.”<br>
Bandmate Vince Clarke, 44, insisted Bell’s diagnosis did not change anything. He said: “I had no fear this was the end.

“I have other friends in similar situations, and with the development of maintenance drugs, it wasn’t a death sentence.”<br>
Announcing he was HIV positive, Bell said: “My life expectancy should be the same as anyone else, so there is no need to panic.”<br>
Erasure, who topped the charts in the ’80s and ’90s, recently reached No4 with single Breathe.

[drbastard]

This fucking moron made me look like a bile spewing poison pen pusher. You see some idiot recently wrote that Andy Bell was an inspiration on some vapid letters page I read when I'm eating my Frosties.

I was furious. Why is he an inspiration? For having unprotected sex? Yes, I can see how that works. So I let them know as much.

The hatemail I got has only just dwindled. God, some people can't accept opinions.

[Smudge]

That's just seriously fucking sick.

On the brightside, where is your career, Mr Bell. the only Erasure song I know is that shite one that Wheatus probably made worse, although judging from such amazingly cuntified quotes, there is a chance they did it amazing justice.

[Electrobix]

Well done, Andy! You've set gay rights back another fifty years. You are such an inspiration!

Wouldn't it be great if all gay men were like Andy the hero. By that I mean if they all had unprotected sex, half wishing that they contract an incurable and painful disease because then it means they are a proper gay.

I'm sure he looks forward to catching every illness under the sun because his immune system is dying but to claim that it's almost an honour is just wrong.

[James]

What a wankerish comment to make.

[passionoia]

Hmmm, I kinda find it hard to sum up my feelings on this one.

For one I can't even begin to put myself in the position he's in and the kind of feelings and emotions behind his comments. I wouldn't be surprised if theres a lot of denial there and they're a kind of defence mechanism. And I even think I could forgive the '...more the merrier.' quote as such, albeit an extremely misjudged and poor taste comment.

However that tied with the 'I wanted to be..' comment sickens me to my stomach. Its so selfish and lacking of any consideration and empathy for all those who have been affected by this illness. It makes me so angry but at the same I can't help but feel pity for someone who could feel in such a way that his comments suggest.

I also find the '...touchstone of being gay' comment deeply offensive and can't make out whether he's being serious or it's some sick form of humour. But whatever it is, the whole 'You'll never understand what it's REALLY like to be gay until you've contracted HIV' suggestion I read it to imply is just SO wrong.

Mind you I already have an issue with the whole growing 'non issue' attitudes towards HIV nowadays. For example the way the whole 'With todays drugs you can live long normal lives.' is used. Don't get me wrong I do understand and can appriciate that stance, because it does go towards educating people that HIV is something people can live with and goes towards helping the acceptance of those suffering and does force out the outdated view that those infected are dying from some horrid pox and they should be pitied. The problem I have is I just think its all become a bit flippant, that maybe this 'no big deal' attitude could be one step forward, two steps back. Fair enough drugs might extend life expectancy but HIV is still a kiler virus and sufferers still live a life of medication and tests and have to deal with the fears and emotions of this constant shadow looming over them that maybe one of these times those tests might show the drugs aren't working.

As evidenced in that article I think maybe the 'buts' are brushed over in favour of the 'it's ok' a bit too much and maybe that might not be such a good thing.

[BriteSide]

Dire is too kind a word

[passionoia]

Thinking about it a bit more I'm actually starting to think his comments might haven been mis-interpreted.

I'm thinking... no infact I'm now convinced that he's talking about his mindset at the time. That he's kinda acknologing his fucked up way of thinking. I don't believe he's saying HIV IS the touchstone of being gay and 'hurrah, the more the merrier' but saying it was something he himself believed at the time and therefore something he wanted.

[veryjammy]

Wow this is a bit of a heavy subject for this messageboard. I'm not really sure how to feel about him saying this.

Whether you like it or not, there are a fair amount of gay men out there who actively seek to get infected with HIV. I'm gay myself, this is not a statement driven by hatred or anything, it's a simple fact. There are some gay men who are 'bug chasers', i.e they have unprotected sex with the aim of catching the virus.

Moreover there are a suprisingly large number of gay men who are 'barebackers', i.e they will only have unprotected sex - this is different from the bug chasers in that they aren't necessarily doing so with the specific aim of getting HIV, it may be because they dislike condoms, and so they run the risk of HIV infection but don't actively seek it.

So whatever you think of him coming out and saying this, he is only reflecting what a section of the gay community is doing, for whatever reason. And if you don't believe me, there are plenty of places on the web I can point you to and prove it.

[passionoia]

veryjammy said:

Wow this is a bit of a heavy subject for this messageboard. I'm not really sure how to feel about him saying this.

Whether you like it or not, there are a fair amount of gay men out there who actively seek to get infected with HIV. I'm gay myself, this is not a statement driven by hatred or anything, it's a simple fact. There are some gay men who are 'bug chasers', i.e they have unprotected sex with the aim of catching the virus.

Moreover there are a suprisingly large number of gay men who are 'barebackers', i.e they will only have unprotected sex - this is different from the bug chasers in that they aren't necessarily doing so with the specific aim of getting HIV, it may be because they dislike condoms, and so they run the risk of HIV infection but don't actively seek it.

So whatever you think of him coming out and saying this, he is only reflecting what a section of the gay community is doing, for whatever reason. And if you don't believe me, there are plenty of places on the web I can point you to and prove it.

Absolutely right.

Though like I said in my past comment he isn't condoning that behaviour at all I don't think, he's examining his own psychology and saying that is the way he saw it. In the same way a gay man might say 'When I first started to realise I was gay I thought I was sick'.

Another article I've read sort of supports that. He talks about his attitude to HIV being similar to his attitude while he was addicted to drugs, that there was a satisfaction that he belonged to a group. He also talks about how he's come through that.

[Electrobix]

passionoia said:

Hmmm, I kinda find it hard to sum up my feelings on this one.

For one I can't even begin to put myself in the position he's in and the kind of feelings and emotions behind his comments. I wouldn't be surprised if theres a lot of denial there and they're a kind of defence mechanism. And I even think I could forgive the '...more the merrier.' quote as such, albeit an extremely misjudged and poor taste comment.

However that tied with the 'I wanted to be..' comment sickens me to my stomach. Its so selfish and lacking of any consideration and empathy for all those who have been affected by this illness. It makes me so angry but at the same I can't help but feel pity for someone who could feel in such a way that his comments suggest.

I also find the '...touchstone of being gay' comment deeply offensive and can't make out whether he's being serious or it's some sick form of humour. But whatever it is, the whole 'You'll never understand what it's REALLY like to be gay until you've contracted HIV' suggestion I read it to imply is just SO wrong.

Mind you I already have an issue with the whole growing 'non issue' attitudes towards HIV nowadays. For example the way the whole 'With todays drugs you can live long normal lives.' is used. Don't get me wrong I do understand and can appriciate that stance, because it does go towards educating people that HIV is something people can live with and goes towards helping the acceptance of those suffering and does force out the outdated view that those infected are dying from some horrid pox and they should be pitied. The problem I have is I just think its all become a bit flippant, that maybe this 'no big deal' attitude could be one step forward, two steps back. Fair enough drugs might extend life expectancy but HIV is still a kiler virus and sufferers still live a life of medication and tests and have to deal with the fears and emotions of this constant shadow looming over them that maybe one of these times those tests might show the drugs aren't working.

As evidenced in that article I think maybe the 'buts' are brushed over in favour of the 'it's ok' a bit too much and maybe that might not be such a good thing.

He found out six years ago. You'd have think he'd have at come to terms with most of it.

[passionoia]

Milk said:

He found out six years ago. You'd have think he'd have at come to terms with most of it.

Exactly.

That's my point (well the point following my original post where I think I (and a few here) have mis-interpreted what he said).

He describing the way he felt six years ago, his own mixed up and quite frankly disturbing views and attitudes towards the disease. He's admitting that at the time he had that fucked up mindset. In the other article I mentioned it is made clearer and also he point's out that he has changed.

[Tim]

As a heterosexual man, I've been hoping to catch crabs for some time now. Still no luck.

[Jen]

Tim said:

As a heterosexual man, I've been hoping to catch crabs for some time now. Still no luck.

Maybe you should go to the beach?


_Sorry.

[flufff]

I do remember a lot more great Erasure songs than that Wheatus nonsense and Andy has always been something of a pop icon for me, so I'm sad so see these kinds of comments. However, I would go along with the people who say his statement of "more the merrier" is some kind of bravado, not a statement on how much better the world would be if only more people could contract the disease. It's the same kind of mentality that leads people who fail driving tests to say "the best drivers fail the first time anyway" etc.

It's a potentially irresponsible thing to say, and he should know that by now, however I'm sure he'd defend himself by saying that he's not responsible for the attitudes of the whole gay community, or the wider community to gays. I'd like to think that most straight people out there won't latch onto Andy's comments and conclude all gay men feel that way all the time.

From what I can tell, Andy is trying to be very positive about his illness and doesn't want to be seen as a victim, or to get sympathy for it. This leads to him saying things that are a bit questionable, but if his overall motive is to not be seen as a victim, then I admire him for that at least.

[kurtwild]

Andy Bell is indeed a div.

It's nonsense like this that makes people think HIV is no big deal - they'll just take a couple of tablets and everything will be OK. It's a load of rubbish - there's nothing "postitive" about HIV.

He won't be saying "I'm a fighter" when he becomes immune to all his drugs and ends up carking it of pneumonia. Which, considering he's on a healthy diet of booze, cocke and hiv drugs, should be within the next 3 or 4 years.

[Tim]

kurtwild said:

Which, considering he's on a healthy diet of booze, cocke and hiv drugs.

Cocke?
Is that when you snort cocaine off a man's winkie?

[Chris]

Tim said:

As a heterosexual man, I've been hoping to catch crabs for some time now. Still no luck.

The clap and crabs went right round our year at school. Someone even made a 'STD Tree' to reflect who had caught it from whom and to highlight the incestuous nature of our school year. Nasty business.