The Own It. End It. campaign, sending the message that “HIV is a gay disease,” launched by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center last week has quickly, and unsurprisingly so, become the center of controversy.

Own It. End It.

LAVoice posted about the campaign earlier this week, reporting that “the Center has always practiced an outspoken brand of outreach and awareness, from its ongoing sponsorship of the California AIDS Rides and successor AIDS Life/Cycle events to numerous ongoing counseling, health-awareness and aid programs” and highlighting two of many many posts from the OwnItEndIt.org message board.

I clicked over to the site’s message board a few minutes ago, and one of the first messages I saw was one titled “Annoyed Teacher”:

This has to be one of the most irresponsible ads I have seen. I teach science to teenagers all day, everyday and this ad suggest that only a specific group is at risk of getting AIDS or becoming HIV Positive. I work hard to dispell the myths and teach the scientific facts as we know them and this is NOT a gay disease but rather one that effects all of humanity. This is a mistake on your part…so I say how about YOU OWN IT AND END IT!

It shouldn’t shock you that some people see the campaign as an “admittance” that HIV is a disease that belongs to the queer community.

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