December 1st is World AIDs Day, and the rest of December is AIDs Awareness Month. I've made this little red ribbon for people to add to their DA icons as I have to help raise awareness of this terrible disease.
If you need help putting it on your icon, let me know. :3

One of the reasons that I support the fight against AIDs so strongly is because of the appalling stigma attached to this disease that has been so wildly misconstrued.
I recall reading in one of my books about a switchboard that was made in London during the 80's for homosexual people that were worried that they may be HIV positive, and thus were allowed to call in with symptoms, how to get help, etc, and the switchboard got such a massive influx of phone calls that it broke down. When technicians and engineers were called to fix it, they refused because they 'didn't want to catch the disease from the wiring'.

For one, AIDs is not a disease that is spread through touching. The HIV virus is spread through bodily fluids, and does not always lead to AIDs.

Another thing that bothers me a lot is the judgment and contempt that AIDs victims have to suffer on top of their disease. Not only are they treated like lepers, but they are also the subject of accusations such as being a drug user, a homosexual or a 'whore'.
People obviously tend to forget that AIDs has been spread to unwilling children via breast feeding. Children who need blood transfusions and happen to be unlucky with their donor. People who have been raped.
I am not condoning unsafe sex - on the contrary, I would hope that many people have learned by now that it can open the doorways to many diseases. Don't do it, children. That's what this is all about.

I remember the sick feeling I had in my stomach after watching Philadelphia. I went to the internet and did some research and learned some pretty horrible things.

And you know what else makes me sick?
The fact that it is a 'funny disease'.
Anyone making jokes about leukemia or breast cancer is immediately branded as The Most Horrible Fucked Up Person On The Planet. But if someone makes a joke about AIDs - well that's ok, because that one is funny.
Just because it's a preventable disease doesn't mean we have to shun anyone with it. It's like laughing at a person with lung cancer because they smoked cigarettes.
I know people don't generally mean it when they make jokes about it, but I'm just not sure how people can make light of such a horrible disease that has destroyed so many lives.

By putting this red ribbon on your icon, you can help generate support for the AIDs Awareness Month.