Here’s the final video in the series of conversations that I’ve been having with Marion Chatterley the Chaplain at Waverley Care.
World AIDS Day video 2014 from Kelvin Holdsworth on Vimeo.
In this video, the tables are turned and Marion gets to ask me the questions.
She starts by asking me why churches don’t seem interested in HIV AIDS issues during most of the year. We talk about people in pews and pulpits who are themselves living with HIV.
We talk about why there’s stigma around HIV and return to the connection between what the churches and their leaders have been saying about marriage and keeping people safe from HIV.
I remind Marion that there’s only a few hundred yards of Scottish streets where gay people might feel comfortable holding hands and talk about why relationships are still frightening and still being hidden because churches are not challenging discrimination and are indeed promoting it by their language around sexuality.
We talk about the phrase “Well, it isn’t living up to God’s ideal” and the way that my denomination is failing me as a priest.
We talk about early HIV prevention campaigns and what the churches might be saying now. We also talk about the churches’ obsession with acts and bodies and how I think that while current policies from church leaders focussing entirely on the sexual element of relationships remain then the devil will go on winning.
We return to the theme of healthy relationships that has come up in each of the videos, including negotiation in relationships and how to find someone you can stay safe with.
The other conversations can be seen below.
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