Stellabella 08.06.2014 16:35 |
There's a lot of new information coming out about 1985, TDBC and more recently the HBO movie The Normal Heart which also takes place during 1985 New York. The main character Ron Woodruff played by Matthew McConaughey contracted AIDS from an intravenous drug using prostitute. The point I want to make is that from all I've read Freddie's statement which was allegedly drawn up by Queen Manager Jim Beach the day before Freddie died is constantly being used as an acknowledgement to his being gay, I'm not disputing his commonly believed sexuality but I think it's wrong to assume that a person contracted the disease via anal sex alone. It's misleading. A female can contract HIV by giving a man whose infected a BJ or by having anal sex with a man and visa versa. As far as I know a man can contract it giving a woman who is infected Cunninglingus. It can be contracted via a blood transfusion or sharing a needle. I don't care if Freddie was gay or not. It is interesting that he and Mary Austin had a short reunion around the time Freddie might have already been infected. And than the question as to why a rich man like Freddie Mercury was unable to find access to the drugs that extended Crawford's life beyond the 30 days he was given? Was this simply artistic discretion on the part of the movies director/producers? However, If Freddie was one of the unlucky men like those from New York portrayed in A Normal Heart who were infected in 1985 he outlived most of them. Dunno these movies have opened many questions for me. Nothing can bring Freddie back unfortunately but I'm curious. Anyone else? |
bugmenot 08.06.2014 18:20 |
i've never seen a topic so full of ignorance. besides the fact that it has nothing to do with music. there were no drugs for blocking HIV/AIDS in the 80s. in 1985 there wasn't even a reliable test. once early symptoms of the disease manifested, death would occurr in few years in almost all cases. oral sex is the least likely way to contract the virus. vaginal sex is more likely. anal sex is the most likely form, for well-documented medical reasons. freddie just fucked everyone and everything he could, male or female, according to his taste. nobody cares if he took the virus in his ass or somewhere else, in which year and from whom. and as far as we know, he never reunited with mary austin, who at that time was married with children (please try at least not to speculate on her and their life). i really don't understand people that go into private details just to try to deny that freddie fucked men as well. so what? like that anduhova bloke that wrote that freddie was manipulated by the gay mafia and actually he was 100% straight and died of cancer. only remarks, he could have been more careful, or he could have spoken earlier, by the way these were difficult personal decisions. he died, music fans miss him and hope that his image won't be furtherly exploited just for money. stop. |
Stellabella 08.06.2014 22:27 |
It's funny, every single interview I have either seen of Freddie, if he was ever asked his opinion of another artist or person he never had a single negative thing to say. Aside from his incomperable musical abilities, that's the thing that I admire about him most. As for Mary Austin, it was in an interview that she gave that she mentions there reuniting and she asked to have his child. Huh? I posted in the serious discussion forum, hello? I will not denigrate your post as you did mine but take it that you haven't viewed either movies?. Because if you had, you would know that yes there were drugs that seemed to slow down the progress of the disease. As I said in my ignorant post; when Ron Woodruff was hospitalized and suffering from pneumonia (I assume an opportunistic disease) the doctors gave him 30 days to live. At that particular hospital they were doing AZT trials and as the movie goes there is question as to whether AZT at that particular potency was doing more harm than good. Woodruff not wanting to chance getting the placebo, first steals AZT from a medical dumpster but after much research goes to Mexican clinic that is having success with other combination of drugs natural remedies. As a result of his success with these drugs he starts The Dallas Buyers Club, charging $400 per month for membership as a way to avoid being arrested for smuggling non FDA approved drugs. Woodruff gets the idea to start a membership club after reading that clubs are forming in cities like New York and San Francisco. Ron Woodruff went on to live 7 years. If you are at all interested in learning the facts; link I don't claim to be an AIDS specialist. I'm not asking for money or seeking to exploit Freddie. My questions were simply about the nature of the drugs used to fight the disease, that AZT in its initial stages may have hastened the death of some and the possibility that Freddie and others infected could have contracted the disease by any number of risky behaviors. It makes no difference to me how or when. I personally don't believe the conspiracy theories but I know that because HIV was thought to be a "gay" it took a lot of hard work by activists to get the medical community to pay attention . And lastly, a press release indicating a person has HIV isn't the same as "coming out of the closest". That's a fair statement I think. I don't care if Freddie had sex with men, he didn't want people to know and I respect that. |
john bodega 09.06.2014 06:12 |
I just saw the movie for the first time, and it's great, but I sort of expect that a lot of people will walk away from it with the wrong idea. The movie even ends with a caption basically asserting that after they got the dosages right and the drug combinations more sorted out, AZT was incredibly helpful. I guess that doesn't really sink in as well as 90 minutes of Matthew Mahogany going "maaaaan this druuug's killing all you faaaags". But yeah, great movie in my opinion. |
Costa86 09.06.2014 06:59 |
I can't understand the exact point of this post? Is it that you are asking why Freddie didn't take any of the experimental, non-approved drugs which feature in the movie? Freddie took everything he could take to fight the disease. This is well-documented. He literally tried everything. AZT was the only drug which was proven to have a strong effect on the disease - until later, when they realised that on its own it wasn't the wonder drug they once thought it was, and that HIV quickly became resistant to it. But apart from AZT, Freddie almost certainly tried other stuff. None of it really worked, although the movie may make you think otherwise. The drugs featured in the movie had little-to-no effect in the long-run. Also, Freddie wasn't infected in 1985. By 1985 he was already close to having full-blown AIDS (which developed officially in 1987, but, realistically, he probably developed AIDS in late 1986, as a photo from 1986 shows a Kaposi's sarcoma lesion on his face). He must have been infected in the late 70s or the very early 80s. And yes, he almost certainly got it from anal sex. He didn't get it from sex with a woman. That's absolutely silly to think, and goes against Occam's razor. If a man has sex with 1000s of men, and maybe 10 or 20 women, how can you reasonably even consider that he got it from the women - a low risk group? And getting HIV from receiving a blow job is also extremely unlikely. You have a bigger chance getting it from GIVING the blow job yourself, but even that is a remote chance. |
splicksplack 09.06.2014 07:02 |
Stellabella, getting your info from a drama is daft. Furthermore writing posts based on that info is pitifully ignorant. Your ideas on transmission are laughable. I was an AIDS phone counsellor for the Terence Higgins Trust and for the National Aids Helpline in the 80's and early 90's and I wouldn't begin to speculate on Freddie's condition and/or drug choices 25 years ago. And I think I'm in a better position to do so than you. Also, whatever you say, your post reeks of homophobia. To any gay person or anyone with decent knowledge of gay men it is all too obvious that Mary was always Freddie's "beard" or cover in the early days. Yes he loved her deeply but it's highly unlikely that love was in the erotic sense, although I'm sure that they had sex. As with so many supposedly "bisexual" people, once the seal was broken and he was out there, there was no going back. Where are all the other relationships with women if he truly was bi-sexual? There aren't any. It stopped at Mary once he gained the confidence to be his true self. Freddie was a gay man that in all probability caught HIV through sex with another man and subsequently died of AIDS related illness. Get over it. |
Stellabella 09.06.2014 09:16 |
Wow :) thank you all for your responses. Those kind and not. My post was written to get pretty much what I got, a discussion. I said I wasn't an HIV/AIDS specialist or expert. There is a lot of new information coming out about the history of the disease and that's a good thing. Especially for the kids who might think its safe now. The other movie The Normal Heart was adapted from the book by the same name written by Larry Kramer. I have to correct my first post in that TNH is about the rise of HIV between '81-'84 and not '85. I guess as is the same for many people (there is a biopic about Freddie Merciry in the works); the tragic loss of this fantastic one of a kind human being is still so very hard to come to terms with. He could have been hit by a bus or died of cancer. I'm sorry if I upset anyone. I am just really curious about how this could have affected so many lovely human beings and continues to do so. The only comment that really hurt was being called a homophob. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have comer to a place where we sit behind annonimity and write as if writing to an operating system. In that sense I think Freddie died just in time. Before the technological age made unkindness so easy. Peace Out. Have a great day. |
Stellabella 09.06.2014 09:45 |
Oh by the way on a lighter subject if you haven't seen Freddie Mercury saved my Life with Alfie Boe it's interesting. It was Freddie who said "I'm not going to be a rock star, I'm going to be a Legend" :) Like all legends he and his life will continue to be discussed. He will be immortal, until as Brian May said we are hit by a meteor or otherwise wiped off this planet. |
ANAGRAMER 09.06.2014 12:12 |
All of the above is speculation nobody will know how or exactly when Freddie contracted his illness and it's really nobody's business except for those close to him would we be having the same discussion if he'd sadly died of lung cancer; which cigarette was the fatal one? Leave him to rest in peace |
Stellabella 09.06.2014 13:32 |
Freddie is not resting in peace Anagramer. He said he wouldn't make old bones; that he'd be off starting a new life somewhere. I believe the same. I think I will stick to reading the Ask Phoebe blog. There's somewhat of an angry trend on this forum. I'm not sure why. "But that's ok, people on streets". Namaste |
mooghead 09.06.2014 14:35 |
I wonder why no one gives a shit about this message board anymore... :/ |
FreddieCat 09.06.2014 16:40 |
Freddie was the adoptive father to many cats. link I think he could be called a very good dad! |
k-m 10.06.2014 12:17 |
@ stellabella: There was a similar thread here ("Did AZT drug kill Freddie" or something like that) and towards the end you'll see quite a few comments made in wake of the Dallas Buyers Club movie. However, I must say I am somewhat flabbergasted with your comments regarding AIDS transmission. I mean, who in 2014 could think that HIV can be passed on only through gay sex?!? Also, someone else said that Freddie tried virtually every drug possible. Can I just ask - how do you know? Where you at his home or did you travel with him to Mexico to see what was available over there (like Ron Woodroof did)? I don't think so. |
ANAGRAMER 10.06.2014 12:35 |
Stellabella wrote: Freddie is not resting in peace Anagramer. He said he wouldn't make old bones; that he'd be off starting a new life somewhere. I believe the same. I think I will stick to reading the Ask Phoebe blog. There's somewhat of an angry trend on this forum. I'm not sure why. "But that's ok, people on streets". NamasteForgive me, you seem to be an authority on this. Please continue |
Stellabella 10.06.2014 15:48 |
Hi Bohemian, I was gonna just leave this posting alone but wanted to make clear I never said HIV was exclusive to gay sex. Quite the contrary. I may have mentioned as was aptly corrected as to some highly unlikely means of transmission. Woodruff contracted the virus through sex with a intravenous drug using prostitute. As for Freddie having tried a host of drugs; I read on Ask Phoebe, the Peter Freestone blog on FM that he did. Even. Drugs he knew wouldn't help him but might help the doctors better understand the treatments outcome/side effects to help others. Anagramer, I'm not an authority on anything. Life is about learning and I enjoy history, especially biographical history. When the subject is as interesting as Freddie Mercury it's easy. So, I've done a ton of reading and listening on YouTube to interviews I suppose the only safe sex is no sex. That's exactly what Freddie decided. But don't take it from me. Here's a link to an interview with David Wigg and Freddie in Ibiza. Freddie say "I've almost become a nun, I've. stopped having sex, I'm into titalation" lol :). He was a funny man. link |