Author Archives

Virally Suppressed is a progressive blog and outreach movement centered around matters of HIV & social justice in America and across the globe.

• The State Mental Health “Diagnose & Dash”

  By Drew Gibson on June 12, 2015 • ( 4 )

  

  On the outskirts of downtown Traverse City, Michigan, just beyond the northern tourist bustle of Front Street but before reaching the vast expanse of shopping centers and strip malls that serve as the consumer mecca for the smattering of towns… Read More ›

• The Hazardous Wasteland: East Liverpool, Ohio & The Environmental Disaster That Time Forgot

  By Drew Gibson on June 7, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  There is a river that runs by East Liverpool, but you do not swim in it. There are crops that grow from the ground in East Liverpool, but you do not eat them. There are brisk winds that blow the… Read More ›

• You Needn’t Pay Them Any Mind: A Brief Look at the Treatment of American Indians in US History

  By Drew Gibson on May 26, 2015 • ( 4 )

  

  It has never been properly explained to me why we still celebrate Columbus Day as a national holiday. What is it exactly are we supposed to be celebrating? The fact that some gold-crazed Italian convinced the Queen of Spain to… Read More ›

• Rahm Emanuel: Chicago’s Mayor of Go F*** Yourself

  By Drew Gibson on May 19, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  Editor’s Note: At the present moment a small, but passionate group of community members on Chicago’s South Side are well into their third week of a hunger strike aimed at Mayor Rahm Emanuel in an attempt to get him to… Read More ›

• Deinstitutionalizing Harry: How America Has Failed Its Severely & Persistently Mentally Ill

  By Drew Gibson on May 15, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  A couple of years ago, Mother Jones‘ Deanna Pan posted a great, although brief, timeline of deinstitutionalization in the United States’ mental health system, running from the 1st mental patient admitted to an asylum in the 18th century1 to the present… Read More ›

• Of Caucasians & Caucuses: My Short, Strange Trip To See Ted Cruz In Iowa

  By Drew Gibson on May 7, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  It was late out. So late it was almost early. Almost, but not yet—the timers on the upside-down soft-serve lightbulbs that lined the balconies and shone down on all the little stairwell moths still having a few hours life left… Read More ›

• In Whose Best Interest? The Ethics Surrounding the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Lawsuit

  By Drew Gibson on May 2, 2015 • ( 3 )

  

  In the coming weeks, roughly 17,500 of the brightest medical minds in America will don their gowns and mortarboards and be formally welcomed as the latest initiates into the fraternity of practicing physicians. The ceremonies celebrating the accomplishments of these… Read More ›

• Black Protests, White Coverage: How The Mainstream Media Distorts The Uprising in Baltimore

  By Drew Gibson on April 28, 2015 • ( 3 )

  

  You do not dress for war in order to wage peace. You do not suppress information when you have nothing to hide. You cannot serve & protect a community while you dig your knee into its neck. These would seem… Read More ›

• The Persecuted Majority: A Letter to Governor Pence Regarding The Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act

  By Drew Gibson on March 26, 2015 • ( 7 )

  

  Governor Pence, It is with an abundance of gratitude in my heart and relief in my bowels that I write to congratulate you on your decision to sign the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act. I must say that all of… Read More ›

• Reasonable Accommodation: The Supreme Court Case That Will Decide Whether Or Not Mentally Ill Lives Matter

  By Drew Gibson on March 23, 2015 • ( 14 )

  

  There are no surer guarantors of the extraordinary than a story which is prefaced by a explanation of how ordinary things had seemed in its beginning. Ask survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center or Pearl Harbor to… Read More ›