October 6, 2015
Candace Cameron Bure Draws Fire From AIDS Activist After Pintauro Interview
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Candace Cameron Bure proved that the apple doesn't fall far from the holier-than-thou tree last week during a segment of "The View" with fellow former child star Danny Pintauro, who recently came out as HIV positive during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
After explaining that he most likely contracted HIV during the period in his life when he was experimenting with crystal meth, Pintauro was hit with a series of, what could be deemed as rhetorical and judgmental questions from Bure.
"I want to know, do you take responsibility for your actions? For being promiscuous, going into a lifestyle of having heightened sex because of the meth that you were using?" Bure asked Pintauro. "I want to know what the message is. Because you want to be the face of HIV, to give that a face. But what is the message that you have? What does that mean?"
An un-phased Pintauro answered matter-of-factly.
"I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to be the role model," Pintauro said. "I want to be the example. I want to be the example of what can happen if you get into drugs, if you're being promiscuous, if you're not taking care of yourself, if you're not being checked, if you're not living a healthy, responsible lifestyle."
When asked by co-host Raven-Symone if he and his husband were having protected or un-protected sex, Pintauro responded that he was on medication and his viral load was undetectable. This lead to Bure reading from her fact card that he wasn't keeping his partner "100% safe."
Bure's line of questioning drew fire from noted AIDS activist Peter Staley, who took to Facebook to blast the former "Full House" star.
"Candace Cameron Bure, that notecard 'fact' you read about HIV transmission was false, and anti-science," Staley wrote. "There has been no recorded transmission of HIV from someone with an undetectable viral load. Danny and his husband are being fully 'responsible,' and your anti-science moralizing only stigmatizes those of us living with HIV."
Staley further admonished Bure. "Shame on you, and your ignorant views," he wrote. "I dare you to bring me on your show to fully discuss HIV transmission risk among gay men."
Staley is best known for founding the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the medical education web community AIDSmeds.com. He was featured prominently in the Oscar-nominated film "How to Survive a Plague."
