Insistence and Consistency: Lesbians and aids
The first act of the public program Whose aids? is titled Insistence and Consistency: Lesbians and aids after this article written by lesbian collective LSD, active in Madrid in the early 1990s. On the occasion of the participation of Fefa Vila, from LSD, in the above mentioned program, we, “Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium,” have translated the article into English. The questions that “Insistence and Consistency” was asking in 1994 do strongly resonate with us today. We feel connected to both their style and political agendas. We are so gay to exist alongside questions across decades!
Insistence and Consistency: Lesbians and aids
If there is something I know and have to say, it is:
1. We, lesbians, can get HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) by having unprotected sex. The risk is higher when having our period.
PRACTICE SAFE SEX:
Use latex and lubricant (water-based, like KY and WET, which you can get from a pharmacy), and remember to use condoms on your sex toys.
2. We can get and transmit HIV by sharing needles when injecting drugs into our bodies.
Don’t share needles. If you do, ensure their disinfection with bleach and water (1/4 bleach and 3/4 water).
3. We can also contract and transmit all sorts of venereal diseases: chlamydia, herpes, genital warts, syphilis, gonorrhea, etc. which harm our immunological system and can increase the risks of HIV transmission.
Always practice SAFE, STEAMY, AND DYKE SEX.
4. If you have not gotten tested for AIDS yet and you think you have taken risks, do not hesitate to get tested.
We are nobody without our lives
If there is something I do not know and must ask, it is:
Where do we, lesbians, poz women, fit? Who cares about how we feel and what we need? Did health professionals take the time to think about us? What responsibilities are governments taking?
Who can answer me?
When I am not asked, and even ignored, about my health, my needs, and my desires, I want to know why. Being silenced as lesbians, women, sexual beings, drug users, mothers, sex workers, inmates is not a genetic or individual matter; it is political. Our absence makes injustice, negligence, and death apparent. This situation cannot and must not go on. We must not tolerate it.
Lesbian, fight aids.
Liliana, Fefa, Sylvie… poz lesbians.
***
Original text reference: Liliana, Fefa, and Sylvie. “Insistencia y consistencia: lesbianas y sida” in Non Grata fanzine, issue 0. Madrid: LSD, 1994.
Translation: Castillo and Emmanuel Cortés for “Aids, archives, and arts assemblies in Belgium,” 2023