<p>In an event called the ?Rainbow Dialogues? held by the undergraduate student government and the Queer Alliance on Tuesday, more than 20 students were infected with HIV ? at least figuratively.
<br/>After participating in an icebreaker which left most of the participants ?infected,? students were able to see how quickly a sexually transmitted infection can travel.
<br/>In the icebreaker, three people were given cards that were labeled with letters ?A? for abstinence, three were given ?C? for a condom used correctly, and three were given ?X? for an infection. Students were infected by getting a signature from the person with an ?X? card, or by meeting people who had gotten a signature from the ?X? person.
<br/>The icebreaker and event were hosted as an effort to promote sexual health awareness among UCLA students and is part of a series of events for Get Tested Week. Students were given blank blue cards and instructed to meet three other people and get their signatures.
<br/>The purpose of the event was to provide a discussion group to address prevalent issues related to STIs in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, such as access to testing.
<br/>Though free HIV and STI testing will be available to students this week, most people at the event said that is not enough time for all students to get tested.
<br/>?We?re hoping that this (event) will give more students access to testing,? said Julio Rodriguez, co-chair of the Queer Alliance.
<br/>Another issue the event addressed was the lifetime ban instituted by the Food and Drug Administration which prevents men who have had sex with other men from donating blood.
<br/>The ban, established in 1985, was instituted on the basis that gay men are at a higher risk of getting and transmitting HIV/AIDS to other people, which poses a risk to blood recipients.
<br/>?This discriminatory policy is out there and it should be repealed,? said Gary Maldonado, a third-year sociology student. ?So you can?t donate blood unless you lie.?
<br/>And this is what some students have resorted to in order to donate blood.
<br/>?I wanted to donate blood and I didn?t think the (ban) should stop me. It was right after 9/11 and everyone was donating blood. I didn?t want something like my sexual orientation to stop me from donating blood,? said Jeremy Boulat, a fourth-year art history student. ?Besides, I knew that they would test my blood to make sure if there was any chance that I had a disease.?
<br/>Mainly, students said they see the ban as an attack on the LGBT community.
<br/>?Gay men aren?t even the largest group infected with HIV/AIDs. And yet it?s a lifetime ban on gay men. Other people get banned for only a few months,? said Cynthia Chen, a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, referring to the six-month ban on other people, such as those who have recently gotten tattoos or have had hepatitis.
<br/>The Queer Alliance plans on getting students to sign a petition Dec. 1 stating their opposition to the ban, which will be sent to the FDA.
<br/>Other issues discussed included a more effective way to slow down the spread of STIs.
<br/>?People should focus on substance abuse and how that leads to unsafe sex, instead of promoting safe sex. I think people understand what safe sex is,? said Travis Broussard, a graduate student at the School of Public Policy.
<br/>Another issue discussed at Tuesday?s event was the way people with AIDS are portrayed in magazines.
<br/>?Magazines like Metro and Positive glamorize people with AIDS,? said Margaux Permutt, co-chair of Queer X Girl and a fifth-year world arts and cultures student.
<br/>Permutt also said some people may be attracted to AIDS because it seems to be associated with an underground culture and it can cause people to lose weight quickly.
<br/>?People have become apathetic to the disease,? she said.
<br/>Rodriguez said he hopes the event can initiate change in the way people view sex.
<br/>?We need to talk about safer ways to have sex, not stopping sex.?</p><br><br><a href='http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39147&#039; target='_blank'>http://www.dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=39147&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br>