HIV: Are You a Victim? Or Are You Responsible for Your Actions?

In a previous article "HIV:   Have we Become Complacent about HIV/AIDS in the U.S.", I stated the following statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) latest research:

According to the latest statistics on HIV in the US...

• More than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 5 (18.1%) are unaware of their infection
• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM),¹ particularly young black/African American MSM, are most seriously affected by HIV.
• By race, blacks/African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV.

Figure1: Estimated New HIV Infections in the United States, 2010, for the Most Affected Subpopulations (from the CDC website).

 

As Director of The Kristen Center, a not for profit charitable organization focused on delivery programs and services to those with HIV and those who care for them, I have made it a point to join several of the HIV groups listed on Facebook to try and take the pulse, so to speak, of what those with HIV are saying, what those who hope they are helping those with HIV are saying - to learn the terrain of HIV Discussions today.

Recently I came across one group which is doing wonderful work in creating an environment where individuals share their story about discovering they are HIV status and then going to share how they are dealing with their new status in today's world.   I cannot say enough about groups like this one.   It allows those with HIV take ownership of their illness.  It is only through owning our HIV will we help ourselves and others overcome it.

Yet there was one posting recently that gave me pause and great concern.   It was the story of an young woman who thought she fell in love, had sex with a man one night (unprotected) and became pregnant and HIV+, only to have the man she thought loved her, leave.   Later in her story she shared a lot a resentment and hatred toward this individual whom she believed gave her HIV.    She started warning her friends of this individual.   Toward the end of her story, she shared that received one day a call from the local police department asking if she wanted to press charges against the man she suspected gave her HIV.  Apparently the man confessed that she was one of his unsuspecting sex partners he did not inform about his status.  She said yes, then started to explain the stress of that decision and how she feels better knowing this individual was sentenced to up to 4 years in prison.  This was only possible because the man wandered into the police station with tremendous guilt and explained he was having unprotected sex without telling others his status.

Though I think for her this story was cathartic and I think for her it was good to get it out on paper, I had concerns about this story actually being posted in a group publicly, but actually highlighted as the top story.   Looking at the story again, I discovered that she admitted she was not sober when she had sex.   She did not mention that this was the only man with whom she has had unprotected sex.   This means that though the man confessed he was positive and had sex with her without telling her his status, there is no way to prove that this man who was sentenced under one of several states' HIV criminalization laws, was the exact man and they her strain was the exact strain that he has.  My concern is not that she shared her story, but there was no warning about the dangers of trying to know by whom and when exactly a person contracts HIV.

In my experience, and through training and education programs on HIV and HIV Prevention, there is only however, there is always that 1% chance you might.   The only way you absolutely have NO control of having unprotected sex is either receiving a rufy and/or being raped against your will - this applies to men as well as women.   Yes men can be raped against their will by other men.

One way to guarantee that you will not get HIV - Don't have sex.   Become celibate.   Beyond that, even using safer sex practices, condoms, dental dams, water based lubricant, there is no way to guarantee 100% that you will never contract HIV.   Using safer sex practices, you can diminish your chances to about 1% to 5% chance that you will contract HIV.   In other words, you can be 95% to 99% certain that you will not contract HIV from a positive sex partner.

So my concern in all of this is: the young women in the story looks at herself as a victim because she believed the guy she met and chose to have unprotected sex with 1) loved her; 2) assumed he would not have sex with her if he were positive; and 3) admitted she was confident of her free will and educated choice to have unprotected sex with him even when she was admittedly under the influence.   Therefore, she believes herself to be a victim and the culprit she help put in jail.   Wrong.

First, you cannot be a victim of a sex act you willingly participate in.   If the other person tells you he or she is negative, and you decide to have unprotected sex because he or she told you their HIV-, then it is not their fault if you become HIV+.   There is nothing preventing the other person from lying to you.  Even those in a committed relationship for years, still lie to each other.    So unless the sex act was a result of you receiving a rufy and being taken advantage of or that of being raped against your will (believe it or not there are some who enjoy the role play of rape - hence I mention "raped against your will"), ultimately it is YOU who is responsible for whether or not you become HIV+.   The unfortunate story the young woman shared believes she was a victim and the man convicted was the man that infected her. Again this is a wrong assumption. If he had not confessed, there is virtually no "practical" way you can determine it was this or that particular person who gave you HIV, unless you are a virgin, or celibate up to that point - and let's face it:  most of us - in fact very few of us, will be in the position of never having sex before.  Please don't misunderstand me. It does occur, but these days it is a rare occurrence.

Find a Testing Center:  http://locator.aids.gov

Second, many states have enacted "HIV Criminalization Laws" which make it illegal for a person who knows he or she is HIV+ and has sex with another person without proper notification to their sex partner of their status. When these laws, mostly created by conservative legislatures out of fear, were first created, they were thought to help reduce the incidence of new infections by unsuspecting victims by forcing people to be responsible, get tested, and tell their status before having sex with their partner. The laws have actually done the exact opposite.  Instead of encouraging people to go out and get tested for HIV, it has actually decreased the rate of individuals getting tested (even anonymously) for HIV.   Its not because they intend to purposely infect others.  It is because they know that if they don't know they are positive (in other words, don't know their HIV status), the laws state that they are NOT responsible for the other person should the other person become HIV+.  Another reason for this law being ineffective is that it does not take into account human nature.   No one, especially on a first date, or even their long time companion, wants to admit to the other they are HIV+.   It implies that they are promiscuous (which this too is a wrong assumption).  Just because you are HIV+, it does not mean you have sex with anyone.  It simply means you have an infectious disease of which the other person needs to be aware.  When have you have had your partner tell you before you had sex with them, "oh by the way I had crabs"?   Never right?  Of course.   You'd bolt before they other person even got their shoes off.  

I think that many of the groups on Facebook and other venues encouraging people to tell their story about how they contracted HIV (or think they did), and how they are doing now is over all a positive thing.  It helps chip away at these stigmas incorrectly attached to having HIV (like HIV+ is a sin or HIV+ means you are promiscuous or HIV+ means you are irresponsible).  Ultimately the decision to have sex never carries with it the assumption you will contract a potentially deadly disease.  But then again, no one wants to admit they are HIV+ to anyone.  So for them, its better not knowing so they can't know if they are hurting another person.

Groups need to help their members understand that blaming others for their own choice to have unprotected sex (exceptions noted earlier), does them nor their sex partner justice.  In fact, just like the HIV criminalization laws, by allowing stories where others are blamed for the cause of their HIV status does the exact opposite of the groups desire - to eliminate Stigmas of HIV.   These stories where others are blamed for "my" HIV status, actually promotes being HIV+ means you are promiscuous.    Groups must encourage those who are HIV+ to take responsibility for their status.   Being HIV+ is NOT as sin.  It does NOT necessarily mean you are promiscuous.   It is simply a disease which can be transmitted during sex.   We must be responsible and always use safer sex practices, if we chose to have sex.  This is a policy that I believe every HIV group should promote.  It does no good to blame others, who we can never legally prove (and even medically prove to a certain extent) that a particular person is the one who gave us HIV.  How you got HIV doesn't matter.  Admitting that you have it and getting treatment does.  

We all have to act as responsible adults when it comes to sex these days.  If you don't know your status - go get tested and find out!  If you are active sexually, and don't always use safer sex guidelines and tools, then you should get tested at least every six months, then start using safer sex practices. If you ARE HIV+, don't have sex with someone until you inform them of your status.   Give someone else the courtesy you may or may not have been given.   If you are HIV-, ask your partner first their status.  If they state their status is positive, you have a choice of walking away, or having sex using safer sex practices with the understanding that no safer sex practice guarantees that you will

www.hivtest.org
locator.aids.gov

not contract HIV - only that is diminishes your chances greatly.   If you are HIV- and you ask your partner their status and they tell you they are negative, don't believe them.  Use safer sex practices.   Its not that they would intentionally lie to you, but if they have never been tested, they cannot tell you their true status.  And let's face it - HIV today still HAS stigmas attached to it - so human nature is not to disclose your status if you are positive for fear of being "misjudged".

HIV is no longer a death sentence.  I cannot state that enough.  Believe it or not 30 years after HIV hit the US, there are still those who still believe that HIV = death. And many of these individuals have advanced degrees! This simply is not true today.  HIV is a chronically manageable disease when treated early (before symptoms), can help avoid the damage HIV would do if you ignore the disease all together, don't get tested, and wind up in a hospital with severe symptoms.   If you wait till this stage, when you have a CD4 count of 10 and a viral load of 500,000, damage may already be done to your body like your nervous system (peripheral neuropathy can be a common occurrence in those who wait to get treated after symptoms of HIV/AIDS appear - it is can be a very painful condition which could require long term pain management along with your HIV medications).   Avoid the damage HIV might do and get treated early.  

Be Empowered - Know your Status
www.greaterthan.org

I am especially concerned about youth  (13-24 year olds) who know that HIV is chronically manageable disease and chose not to use safer sex practices because they have told themselves - "If I get sick, I'll just take meds".  This is not the best option either, yet with the HIV criminalization laws, it is pushing our youth to these conclusions, rather that learning about HIV Prevention and implementing safer-sex practices in their own lives.

So as you consider HIV... If you find out you have HIV...   What will you tell yourself?   What will you tell others?  Are you a victim?  Or are you taking responsibility for your own choice to have unprotected sex which may have led to your contraction of HIV.   It's not the other person that needs to get tested before we have sex with them.   It is us that need to get tested before we chose to have sex with another person.  

________________________________________

www.thekristencenter.com

Rev. Brother Jeffery Wolfe is the Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors for The Kristen Center, a faith-based not-for-profit community based organization dedicated to providing programs and services to those with HIV and those who care for them. Currently The Kristen Center offers targeted, customized HIV Support Groups for: Newly Diagnosed; Long Term Survivors; Family & Caregivers of those with HIV; and, Women with HIV. HIV Prevention programs are an essential core element of the services offered by The Kristen Center. You can learn more about The Kristen Center by going to http://www.thekristencenter.com/ or by checking out its Facebook Page at http://www.fb.com/TheKristenCenter or visit their Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/kristencenter.

Brother Jeff is also author of his blog “Following My Calling” (http://followingmycalling.blogpost.com).  You can reach Bro Jeff on his Facebook page at http://www.fb.com/brojefferywolfe, on his Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/RevJeffWolfe or through the “Contact Us” page on St John XXIII Pastoral & Outreach Center website (http://www.stjohnxxiiipoc.org) or on Skype at “rev_jwolfe”.  You can also write Bro Jeff at rev_jwolfe@stjohnxxiiipoc.org, rev_jwolfe@thekristencenter.com or at revjwolfe@gmail.com. 

In addition, Rev. Brother Jeff Wolfe is the Director and Administrator of St John xxiii Pastoral & Outreach Center (POC) in Indianapolis, IN. It was founded April 4, 2011 in Indianapolis on the East-side in Irvington. Bro Jeff attends seminary as a third year student at St. John xxiii Theological Institute enrolled in the Master of Divinity Program. As the Director of the St. John xxiii Pastoral & Outreach Center in Indianapolis, Bro Jeff serves Indianapolis by offering a Progressive, Vatican II Independent Catholic parish which offers communion, hospital visitation, shut-in visitation, prayer groups, RCIA, weddings and funerals, and other traditional liturgies associated with Catholicism.

St. John xxiii Parish denies NO ONE for ANY reason from receiving the Holy Eucharist. ALL are welcome at our Mass regardless of status (divorced, single, married, gay, straight, bi-sexual, trans-gendered). As an ACCUS church, we believe as Pope John XXIII did that Christ died for all, FOR ALL. Our clergy hold valid Holy Orders eleven (11) lines of Apostolic succession (Duarte-Costa (Roman); Utrecht (Roman); Milingo (Roman); Greek Orthodox; Russian Orthodox; Albanian Orthodox; Coptic Orthodox; Cyprian Orthodox; Antioch Orthodox; Reformed Episcopalian; and Malankara/Syrian/Jacobite (Orthodox); as our sister Church, the Roman Catholic church holds. Consider joining us. Contact Bro Jeff at rev_jwolfe@stjohnxxiiipoc.org or go to the "Contact Us" page at http://www.stjohnxxiiipoc.org/. You can also visit St John XXIII POC at their Facebook page at http://www.fb.com/StJohnXXIIIPOC or on their twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/StJohnXXIII.

HIV: Have We Become Complacent About HIV/AIDS in the US?

According to the latest statistics on HIV in the US...

• More than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 5 (18.1%) are unaware of their infection
• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM),¹ particularly young black/African American MSM, are most seriously affected by HIV.
• By race, blacks/African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV.

Figure1: Estimated New HIV Infections in the United States, 2010, for the Most Affected Subpopulations (from the CDC website).

 

Have we become complacent in our attitudes toward HIV?   We are told today that HIV is a "chronically manageable disease".    We have testing programs in every state.   We have education and prevention programs in every state.  We even have special programs (like Focus On Youth 24/7) to educate our young people on why it is important to get tested often and start treatment early if you test positive. 

Yet more and more young people are choosing to ignore the cry to use "safer sex" kits (condoms, dental dams, etc.).   HIV is no longer a problem for young adults.   According to the CDC, one in every five people with HIV don't even know they have it.  Why is that?  Is it in part due to the fact that many states have chosen to make crime to have sex with a person, when you know you are HIV+, but do not tell your sex partner before having sex?  This law in many ways has backfired from its original intention.  Instead of encouraging people to get test for HIV, it actually discourages individuals who are sexually active from getting tested.  How you might ask?   

Under most state statutes which criminalize those who knowingly have HIV, yet have sex with their partner without full disclosure are committing assault to attempted murder.  But these same states with the HIV criminalization law, state that if you have sex with your partner, and your partner gets infected from you, if you are unaware of your status, then you are NOT committing a crime - because if you don't know your status, you can't be held liable   

As a result, may individuals who are sexually active, purposely choose NOT to get tested so they can avoid being responsible if they infect their sex partner. There are even websites (underground) which promote infecting those who don't have HIV and promote those who don't have HIV, to actively seek out an HIV+ person with the sole purpose of getting infected.  They are called "bug chasers".  Sound crazy?  Well, it is..

Even with all the prevention, public service announcements, AIDS Service Organizations, and "Safer-Sex Campaigns", infections for HIV are on still on the rise.   Today, "About 50,000 people get infected with HIV each year.  In 2010, there were around 47,500 new HIV infections in the United States" (according to the CDC - see CDC Fact Sheet: New HIV Infections in the United States 2007-2010). In 2009, the CDC estimated there were 1.1 million people in the United States are infected with HIV.   Of these, one in five (1 in 5) persons don't even know they have HIV.  What can we do to change this?   How can we be better at educating?  

For reasons noted above, less and less kids (13-24 year olds) are NOT using protection and are having

Cheyenne Jackson, Actor and AmFAR Ambassador
photo courtesy of http://www.queerty.com

unprotected sex.   When asked why they are not using protection, of all the responses, one of the most common response is "Why do I need to use protection? If I get sick, I'll just go on medication".   This lackadaisical and cavalier attitude has to change or we will be raising - we are raising - whole new generations who look at HIV as nothing more than an inconvenience, or like any other chronically manageable disease.  They don't feel the fear that my generation felt.  

I was in my senior year in high school when HIV hit the US in a small groups of gay men in San Francisco.   Originally called "gay cancer" (due to one of the most prevalent symptoms being noticed by physicians - Kaposi's Sarcoma).  Later it was discovered what KS typically only affected those of Mediterranean descent.  Then it was called "GRID" - Gay Related Infectious Disease).   As the medical community reeled from trying to figure out what was going on with this alarmingly fast spreading set of symptoms among gay men, another term began being used to describe those symptoms which seem to be occurring more and more frequently - ARC (AIDS Related Complex). When the barrier from gay men to other segments of society began (such as hemophiliacs who were receiving tainted blood transfusions for their hemophilia), fear finally began to grip the general population of the US (surprisingly even today, HIV is thought of as a "gay disease".  So if I am straight, then I don't have to worry about it - wrong). The first treatment was AZT.  Typically those treated with AZT did not die from HIV (or actually the opportunistic infections), but from the actual treatment itself. Today we have dozens of antiviral drugs, most of which have mild to moderate side effects.  But is this a good thing?   Or does it stall the push forward to a cure? Pharmaceutical companies can make more money on managing a disease, than curing it.

Programs like Focus on Youth 2/47 are being implemented today to help try and turn the tide of attitudes of complacency and complete lack of fear by youth.  Never mind youth already have a normal predisposition to having no fear of death because for them, death is something that will happen for them far in the future, but the very effective treatments we have today for managing HIV allow individuals to live a relatively normal life span.  The medicines have become more effective, and less are needed.  The medicines have become less toxic (don't make people sick to their stomach as much when taking new anti-retrovirals).   Complacency seems to have set in, especially for youth.  But even still, this complacency is not just confined to young persons.  

This week the President Obama signed an Executive Order to help increase the continuity of care (that is people who start medicines, remaining on their medicines faithfully).  The reason is that today of all those who start treatment for HIV, only 1 in 4 actually make it to long term prognosis of a normal health life span according the White House Office of National HIV/AIDS Strategy.   Even those that get tested, and start treatment, do not feel the sense of urgency to maintain their treatment.  Maybe because they don't see a need to take medicines because they feel no symptoms and don't look sick.  But yet this is the insidious nature of HIV.  It gives people false sense of security because the from the time of initial infection to the onset of symptoms can take a decade or more.   And once symptoms actually start occurring, the survival rate of those infected by going on treatment is much much less, then if they started and stayed on their medicines right after they found out they were HIV+. 

According to an article in the latest edition of POZ Magazine,  research concludes that the sooner individuals start HIV treatment after finding out they are HIV+, the more likelihood they will not develop complications from their condition and will have a much better chance of living a normal life span, truly making HIV a chronically manageable disease (see http://www.poz.com/articles/early_therapy_761_24234.shtml).   And this is another insidious nature to HIV.  The very treatment to make people maintain a healthy lifestyle.  It is only chronically manageable if you start treatment early, and remain faithfully on treatment.  For now that means the rest of an HIV+ person's life.   

According to Actor Cheyenne Jackson in a recent article in the online magazine "Queerty" (see http://www.queerty.com/aids-activism-needs-the-next-elizabeth-taylor-says-cheyenne-jackson-20130716/), he is "irked" at the ignorance of youth.

Following the Outfest screening of The Battle of amfAr, a documentary from Oscar-winning director Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, on Sunday, Jackson expressed that he is irked that some young people are so uneducated about the struggles gay people have faced and their general indifference to the AIDS epidemic.

“It’s the arrogance of youth,” Jackson suggested. “The lack of education, especially among the twenty-somethings, they don’t know their history and it pisses me off. I talk to these 22 or 23 years olds and there is so much rampant unsafe sex and they think, ‘Oh, I’ll take a pill’…Half of them don’t even know what Stonewall is and I just want to knock their heads together.”

So maybe what is needed is a little "Shock Therapy".  If more and more people who are living with HIV would share the downsides of HIV, as well as the "positive" aspects of HIV, maybe more youth would start taking seriously HIV/AIDS, start getting testing regularly and start medicines right away.  Maybe if youth actually knew what those who become HIV+ must go through just to qualify for Ryan White so they can receive their life-saving medications.  Maybe it might help.   So what really are the downsides?   What exactly do persons who discover they are HIV+ go through as it relates to the downsides of having HIV? 

Here's what happens, at least in Indiana today...

• Divest yourself of any personal assets.
• You must be enrolled in Social Security Disability. The average SSDI income for kids 30 and under is between $500-1200 / month. Try living on that
• Now that you are on SSDI, you cannot work or you lose your SSDI, and then access to Ryan White.
• You must enroll in Medicare.
• You must meet with a Care Coordinator at least every 6 months
• If you are still living at home and you become HIV+, there is risk you will be disowned by your own family (1 in 4 teens who come out to their parent and tell them they have HIV are kicked out into the street - there are over 500,000 homeless teens in the US from contracting HIV alone).
• By state law, if you engage in sexual activity after you find out you are positive , you can be guilty of attempted murder (which in turn actually encourages kids to NOT get tested, because if you don't know are HIV+, you are not liable for any crime).
• If you are positive, but still feel fine and are asymptomatic, you may think you don't need meds until between 10-12 years later you become so sick, you become hospitalized.
• If you don't go on meds and wait till you are sick, you can develop PCP, MAC, MRSA, VRSA, and may have less then. 5% chance of surviving.
• You develop neuropathy which is so painful, you have to go in Pain Management to control your pain so you can at least perform Daily Living Activities.
• You begin to age twice as fast before you were HIV+
• You might have health issues you normally wouldn't experience until your 70s, like a hip replacement in your 40s.

When kid say, "if I get sick, I'll just take meds", they don't think of the downsides listed above and this is just the beginning.   

We must Educate, Prevent, Protect, and Inform.  And we MUST TELL THE DOWNSIDES to HIV as well as the more palatable "upsides" of being HIV+.  We must tell kids that avoiding HIV IS SO MUCH BETTER with safer sex and protection, then living the rest of their lives with all of the above!  We must tell youth that the damage done by HIV, if they don't get tested often, and close the gap between the time they become infected and starting on those life saving medicines damage will aleady be done.  We also must love our children, no matter what disease they develop - love them and care for them.  Once the HIV virus damages the body (like nerve cells causing permanent neuropathy), it is not reversible.

______________

 Rev Brother Jeff Wolfe serves as Executive Director and member of the Board of Directors of The Kristen Center, an interfaith, Not for Profit, community based organization dedicated to providing programs and services to those with HIV and those who care for them.   To learn more about The Kristen Center, visit their website at http://www.thekristencenter.com and their Facebook page at http://www.fb.com/thekristencenter.

¹CDC. Monitoring selected national HIV prevention and care objectives by using HIV surveillance data—United States and 6 U.S. dependent areas—2010. HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report 2012;17(No. 3, part A). http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/statistics_2010_HIV_Surveillance_Report_vol_17_no_3.pdf . Published June 2012.

Separation of Church and State? Is It an Option Now?

I became aware of what the GOP Legislature for the State of Indiana has been recently been up to,  and I literally became dismayed.  In one fell swoop, the GOP State Legislature swept away separation of Church in State, a concept implied in the U.S. Constitution.

"Separation of church and state" (sometimes "wall of separation between church and state") is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson and others expressing an understanding of the intent and function of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The phrase has since been repeatedly used by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...." and Article VI specifies that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." The modern concept of a wholly secular government is sometimes credited to the writings of English philosopher John Locke, but the phrase "separation of church and state" in this context is generally traced to a January 1, 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, and published in a Massachusetts newspaper.

Echoing the language of the founder of the first Baptist church in America, Roger Williams—who had written in 1644 of "[A] hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world"— Jefferson wrote, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."^[1]

Jefferson's metaphor of a wall of separation has been cited repeatedly by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Reynolds v. United States (1879) the Court wrote that Jefferson's comments "may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [First] Amendment." In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), Justice Hugo Black wrote: "In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state."^[2]    (Source:  Wikipedia:  "Separation of Church and State in the U.S. Constitution"

The recent Indiana Republican State Legislature revived a1997 law prohibiting same-sex marriages, but went a step further by making it a Felony ( Class 6 ) to even have a same-sex couple even apply for a marriage license and bars (prohibits) clergy from performing same-sex weddings or union ceremonies under penalty of jail time and a fine. What is worse, the law is written so that even if clergy perform a simple union w/o a license are breaking the law.
(photo courtesy of Photobucket.com)

Republicans in the state of Indiana forgot about a little concept upon which the US Constitution was written - that of separation of church and state. They may legally prohibit same-sex couples from applying for a marriage license, but last I checked, clergy cannot be prohibited from practicing a Sacrament if is part of their belief and religion. So State Republican Legislators are applying their own religious belief on a service provided by the state through a justice of the peace (or clergy whose religious belief allows for same-sex marriages).

I am a third year seminarian in the United American Catholic Church (UACC), an Independent Catholic progressive, Vatican II church follow 2nd edition Missal (NOT under the jurisdiction of Rome). Our church allows same-sex ceremonies. With this new law taking effect in January 2014, that means that once I am ordained a priest, even if I "solemnize" a same-sex union without a marriage license (because the GOP Legislature says its now going to be illegal for a same-sex couple to even apply for a marriage license), I can go to jail! For expressing my FREEDOM OF RELIGION. You know, the thing for which we came from England on the Mayflower? The US Constitution guarantees EVERY US CITIZEN the right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness". Last time I checked, the US Constitution did have the words "only applies to heterosexuals".

I pray and hope that all clergy will be outraged by the fact that the State is trying to tell us how to practice our religion. It is an outrage.  Even if you are clergy which does not agree with the practice of Same-Sex unions, you SHOULD be OUTRAGED that the State of Indiana is telling what to believe in your church, what to practice in your church, and what you cannot do in your church.   This is the first of a slippery slope.
What will be next?  Prohibition from Blessing a building?  Prohibition from Pet Blessings?  Prohibition from LGBT persons from becoming ordained clergy?   Even if you don't believe in same-sex marriage as a church, you should be OUTRAGED by the State meddling in how to run your church and what your beliefs are.

I have been a Hoosier for most of my life. I was born in Ohio, but my parents moved to Indiana when I was under two. I have also been a Democrat my entire life and I cannot believe that we live in a state that has set back society in Indiana in the 21st century back to the Middle Ages. Homophobia within the church must end. Please support same-sex marriage in Indiana and support eradicating homophobia from the Christian Church (which is were most of the GOP gets their idea that being gay is a sin - being gay is NOT a sin). Please also support Matthew Vines' Reformation Project (http://www.reformationproject.org)

http://www.glaad.org/blog/indiana-criminalizes-marriage-equality-and-pro-lgbt-clergy

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/10/indiana-gay-marriage-debate-state-laws/2504767/

Peace,
Bro Jeff

Remembering Our Founder of the American Catholic Church in the United States, the Most Reverend Lawrence Harms, D.D.

It must have been 6 or 7 years ago I discovered, through my life partner, the website for the American Catholic Church in the United States (an Independent Catholic Jurisdiction not under jurisdiction of Rome).  From that day, to the first phone conversation I had with Archbishop Harms, I knew that I could finally fulfill my promise I made to God way back in high school - that I would go into ministry.

I will never forget that first phone call with Archbishop Harms.   He introduced himself as Larry.  I asked how he would like to be addressed.  He said, "Please, just call me Larry".  I knew from that one response that this was a man who was unpretentious, kind, gentle, and genuinely caring.   I responded, "Whatever you ask, Your Grace".  

From that first phone conversation, I began phone dialogue periodically with Archbishop Harms.   After the 4th phone call over five years, I went back to college and completed my degree in Sociology from Indiana University.  I finally graduated in 2009.  My last phone call with Archbishop Harms before I applied for seminary, he asked me what type of ministry did I see myself in.   I responded that for the last three (3) years I had worked in the HIV Community on the Ryan White Part B Advisory Council Program, ensuring those with HIV get the services they need, and those who don't have HIV, how to protect themselves.  He simply said to me, "I want you to focus your ministry with the HIV Community".   I had my call and my mission.

In the fall of 2010, I started on my application to St John XXIII Theological Institute, a seminary which Archbishop Harms also had a vision so that new priests could be trained.   On March 28, 2011, I received my acceptance letter from the Most Reverend William Johnson, Bishop of the Diocese of St Luke, in which I resided, and the Auxiliary Bishop for The American Catholic Church in the United States.   

That was over two years ago, and I am now in my third (3rd) year at St John XXIII Theological Institute in their Master of Divinity Program.   I also last year launched a Not for Profit organization called, The Kristen Center (named after one of our first donors).  It is focuses on delivering programs and services to those with HIV and those who care for them.  We are unofficially launched.  The official launch will be after my graduation from St John XXIII Theological Institute and I pray, after I am called Sacred Order of Priest.  

This past Sunday, April 28, 2012, Archbishop Harms rested his personal ministry and returned to Our Lord. But the legacy he left will continue for years and years to come.  He left a thriving independent Catholic jurisdiction with its motto "Serve All with Love", with parishes (Pastoral & Outreach Centers) from the east coast to the west coast.  He also left a seminary in which students called to serve can obtain training.  Quite a legacy for such a short time that ACCUS has been around (launched May 23, 1999).

For me, I rest in comfort knowing that the late Archbishop Emeritus Harms is there when I pray for ACCUS every day; that he is interceding for ACCUS as well in prayer to God for us; and for our current  Presiding Archbishop the Most Rev. William Johnson, D.D, whom he personally chose to continue His good work.  

I continue my studies with vigor, even against great personal struggle at home, because the HIV ministry I serve here is one that the late Archbishop Emeritus Harms asked me personally (over the phone) to pursue and continue.  

Therefore the best way I can honor Archbishop Emeritus Harms is to pursue my studies and ministry with vigor.  I thank God everyday for ACCUS, for without it, I would not be in ministry.

Please remember His Grace, the Most Reverend Lawrence Harms, D.D, Archbishop Emeritus and founder of ACCUS in your prayers.   Thank God everyday he had the courage to live his life as Pope John XXIII - looking at the cross with Christ's arms wide open, welcoming EVERYONE.

Peace,
Bro Jeff

Rev Brother Jeff Wolfe
St John XXIII Pastoral & Outreach Center
The Kristen Center
The American Catholic Church in the United States