HEAL London

For years at any public event we've been bombarded with people wearing large and overly visible red ribbons, particularly on World AIDS Day, culminating in the ridiculous image in 2007 on Pop Idol where contestants were wearing such huge ribbons they must have been visible from satellites.

So what does the ribbon mean? And why can't re-thinkers about AIDS support it?

Essentially, the red ribbon is a symbolic representation of the orthodox paradigm. When people wear it, they are - either consciously or unconsciously - symbolising support for people who've been killed 'by HIV' and for those who have been diagnosed HIV+. It is for the most part also an endorsement of the dominant scientific model of HIV/AIDS.

It is an affirmation of a scientific / commercial model that many of us believe has criminally resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many people for the sake of other people's fame and fortune. It is perhaps somehow appropriate that the colour is blood red, to represent the metaphorical spilling of many people's blood. Especially for those that have died of liver failure as a result of taking toxic prescribed medications and whose deaths have been classified as 'AIDS complications'.

For those reasons those of us who have a different perspective of what's really going on with AIDS cannot express our support for victims of this fraudulent paradigm by sporting a red ribbon. Instead we want to express our support for those innocently afflicted by displaying a green ribbon, to represent a forward-thinking approach to AIDS.