kelly, i have known a frighteningly large number of gay, bisexual and straight people who had HIV, KNEW they had HIV and didn't use condoms anyway with people who weren't positive. i've also known plenty of people who have a wide variety of health issues including HIV, diabetes and cancer who choose not to get medical care.

there is a window where testing won't show HIV status yet, and testing for HIV won't show hep C status (hep c is more often fatal but gets a lot less press).

so it seems to me that sex education - and spreading the word about condoms in a serious and accurate way - is the way to go. after all - what good is getting everyone tested going to do when so many people will go to the bars and have sex with someone they don't know without asking questions? not that anyone does ask about hep C- HIV is the only STD most people think will have serious long-term health problems. using a condom correctly in those situations seems to me to be a much more realistic approach than mandatory testing when there's no cure and many people won't change their lifestyles based on the test results.