[T-Minus 24 Days.]
There is privilege in being able to share this process openly, without too much fear of any reprisal...
- I work in a sex-positive, HIV-aware environment.
- I have supportive friends who are invested in my health and trust the soundness of my decisions (I hope).
- I have stable health insurance that allows me to pay for elective medications such as PrEP.
- I'm a white cisgender male. And yes, that does matter - frequently, people of color aren't offered the same opportunities for discussions about PrEP as white people. This can be even worse for trans* folk and trans* folk of color.
- Assuming my preliminary HIV test comes back negative (it did), by continuing this blog I'll essentially be shouting out "I don't have HIV, and I'm not going to!". I understand that this could make it seem like I'm stigmatizing folks who are positive, or minimizing the stigma against people living with HIV by discussing stigma against people taking PrEP.
The stigma against HIV is far greater, and has lasted far longer, than the stigma against PrEP ever will. Period.
A few stories out of so many of the impacts of HIV stigma.
Prevention is an important topic, and one that people should be discussing more, but treatment is easily as important. TasP, or Treatment as Prevention, has been proved to be an extremely effective barrier to transmission. Just as with condoms, TasP in combination with PrEP can allow a serodischordant couple (partners with opposite HIV statuses) to engage in sex with near zero risk of HIV transmission. In fact there are some who've questioned whether the PrEP is even necessary, if the poz partner has an undetectable viral load (the amount of active virus in an HIV+ person's body - undetectable means there is virtually no active virus at all).
PrEP has seemed to be gaining in popularity in the United States in the past few months, and is beginning to be adopted worldwide, which is phenomenal. But the job of destigmatizing HIV falls entirely on HIV- people. I couldn't (and wouldn't) possibly demand that everyone on PrEP share their story. Medical care is a very personal, private thing. I want to share my story here, for whatever it's worth, to destigmatize PrEP, for sure, but I'm privileged to be able to do so relatively safely.
Prevention is a huge aspect of awareness, but I think we have an obligation as a community - as several connected communities - to broaden the conversation not just about PrEP, but more importantly about HIV, whatever that looks like for you.
C'mon, let's #endthestigma
P.S. If you'd like to help impact the stigma and the hardship that can be a part of living with HIV/AIDS, think about volunteering for your local AIDS Project/Foundation. You can brows a list of resources from amFAR, and of course you can always Google for "AIDS Service Organizations" in your state. Lots of organizations need help, and it really can be a powerful experience.
So right! When my gay friends were dying all around in the '80's and early 90's, everyone seemed to simply assume this was a "Gay problem." That idea was apparently dispelled for a while, but seems to have experienced some unwarranted resurgence in the last few years. The stigma and the prejudice will persist unless it is educated out of the general populace. As true in the USA as it is anywhere in the World.
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