"Mis"Leaders in the fight Against HIV: World AIDs Day Edition

Saturday, December 1st is Worlds AIDs day when millions of people worldwide come together to commemorate those we have lost and celebrate the gains we have made in the struggle against HIV/AIDs.

Playing off of the 2007 World AIDs Day theme of "leadership", we thought we'd put up some of our favorite quotes from some of the great "mis"leaders in the fight against AIDs.

Who better to start with than Rev. Falwell:

1991

"Aids is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."

— Jerry Falwell, US televangelist, 1991.

1992

"Are they taking DDT?"

FormerVice President Dan Quayle asking doctors at a Manhattan AIDS clinic about their treatments of choice, Apr. 30, 1992 (as reported in Esquire, Aug., 1992 and the New York Post, early May, 1992)

2002

"Antiretrovirals, they're quite dangerous. They're poison actually. We cannot allow our people to take something so dangerous that it will actually exterminate them. However well meaning, the hazards of misplaced compassion could lead to genocide." "Peter Mokaba, Youth Leader of the ANC, New York Times, March 31, 2002

2004

"And remember, back then in the '80s, one of the accompanying -- there -- there -- there -- there was a lot of fear-mongering going on around -- about AIDS, as a lot of people were scared about it. And one of the things that -- that the -- the AIDS activists said regularly back then was, oh, this is only a matter of time before it spreads to the heterosexual community. It's only a matter of time. And they used that as -- as one of the weapons to try to get people like Reagan to start talking about it from their standpoint. And of course it -- it hasn't. It -- it didn't, and it hasn't, other than in Africa, and in Africa it is -- it is being spread not just by -- it -- it -- it's promiscuity that -- that -- that spreads this, if you want to know the truth. It's promiscuity. But it -- it hasn't made that jump to the heterosexual community.

- Rush Limbaugh: Jun 9, 2004 LIMBAUGH show:

To find out more about how people worldwide are celebrating World AIDs Day, check out the World Aids Campaign site

To learn more about organizations doing great things in the field of HIV/AIDs, click here and here and here