Oct 28, 2005  |  By: ANDREW KEEGAN  | COMMENTS     

A popular TV show’s portrayal of an unproven HIV “supervirus” perpetuates fears of a killer strain of the disease and could increase bias against people with HIV, critics claim.

The Oct. 18 episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” focused on a string of murders of gay men. The show, dubbed “Strain,” featured a gay AIDS activist who killed gay men.

The activist targeted men who had contracted through unsafe sex fueled by methamphetamine use a new strain of HIV that could kill in less than a year.

The killer’s attorney argued the murders were justified because the HIV-positive men were infecting other gay men with the drug-resistant virus. The jury rejected the defense strategy.

The New York City-based Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts called the episode irresponsible for failing to acknowledge the supervirus hyped by public officials has never materialized.

The groups believe the storyline was taken from a real-life case in New York City, in which a person was infected with a highly drug resistant strain of HIV and progressed rapidly to AIDS.

The case received widespread media attention in February. But since then, the man has responded to medical treatments, according to the agencies, and other cases have not developed.

Stephanie Berman, an NBC spokesperson, said the “Strain” episode is no different than any other storyline.

“We do run a disclaimer at the end of all the ‘Law & Order’ episodes that they are fiction,” Berman said Oct. 24 in a written statement.

THE GAY & LESBIAN Alliance Against Defamation posted GMHC’s concerns about “Strain” on its Web site and asked “Law & Order” to depict gays more accurately.

“The ‘Law & Order’ franchise has long made gays and lesbians the victims or villains,” said Damon Romine, GLAAD entertainment media director. “In this episode, they managed to do both with a story based on an untruth about a HIV ‘supervirus.’”

But Romine did note one positive gay character from the episode.

“While it’s never entertaining to watch a show about gay people killing gay people, there was a glimmer of hope in this episode with the inclusion of Detective Tutuolo’s son, who is gay and helped solve the case,” Romine said.

Berman had no comment on adding a gay character to the series.

The episode “Strain” is scheduled to be broadcast again on Oct. 30 at 11 p.m. on the USA network.

Pet peeves

The leader of a Christian organization believes cable channels “Animal Planet,” known for pet and wildlife programs, and “HGTV,” which offers home and garden shows, are hotbeds of homosexuality.

Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, concurred with a caller on an Oct. 11 broadcast of his daily radio show, “Today’s Issues.”

“You really, really, really have to watch what you are watching on TV” because of “evidence of homosexuality and lesbian people,” the caller said, citing the channels.

Wildmon agreed and went one step further. “You have to watch out for children’s programs today as well because they’ll slip it in there as well,” he said.

Officials with the two networks did not respond to interview requests by press time.