Families With AIDS

The Times is to be commended for publishing two very touching articles concerning AIDS and its impact on two families who never thought they’d be impacted by this hideous disease.

However, both stories carried a thinly veiled tone that these were somehow “innocent” families who had not been involved in high-risk activities, so their infection is that much worse.

Statements such as these indirectly convey the message that some people are “less innocent” than others. A virus does not discriminate. While it is true that AIDS has started out in certain groups, its spread has always been seen as inevitable.

It is heartbreaking for a family to lose a child at any age, for any reason. Please understand that there are more than 50,000 families who have lost children to this horrible disease.

JOHN THOMPSEN, West Hollywood