HIV/AIDS Blog Central: Perspectives From the HIV/AIDS Community

1. CHECK THE EXPIRATION DATE!!

2. Make sure the condom is pushed inside the wrapper opposite the end from which you are opening it.

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This past Wednesday, April 24, the New York Daily News published an article entitled "Young Black Gay Men Who Hide Sexuality May Be Behind Brooklyn's HIV Epidemic, Doctors Say." The article, from the headline on in, is stigmatizing, racist, heterosexist, shortsighted and misinformed. It does what all the best journalism does: It packs quite the punch in a few short paragraphs. Unfortunately, it reserves its worst jabs and most powerful punches for young black gay men -- a population already at the intersection of many oppressed identities -- and does nothing to further healthy, productive conversation on the fight against HIV/AIDS, ending homophobia or respecting the lives and bodies of Brooklyn residents.

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By now you have probably read my original articles "Know Your Pharmacist, Know Your Pharmacy" and learned how your pharmacist is a key member of your health care team, and "10 Steps To Choosing The Pharmacy That's Right For You." Now that you're armed with this information, what do you do when you can't shop around for an HIV pharmacy in your area or you have to just use the closest one that takes your insurance?

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The mental burden of being HIV positive is of substantial weight that could equal, if not exceed, the weight of the physical damage HIV can cause to the body. Unfortunately, this significance is met by a practice that still deals with broad categories of mental illness rather than the specificity of HIV-related mental problems. Mental health care providers in the case of HIV-positive persons are, mostly, social workers who lack the experience to deal with nuances of the problems rooted in the minds of poz folks.

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In December 2012, I was privileged and honored to run my friend Kenn Chaplin's World AIDS Day roundup, which he had originated in 2010. I called the incarnation "Kenn's Project," and accepted submissions all the way up to 10 p.m. EST on December 1. I received written submissions from many of my amazing friends, including Edward, Emerald (she of the Awake and Alive Project), and Kenn himself. As World AIDS Day approached, I expanded the loose guidelines to include photos, and on World AIDS Day, I received one that I was already familiar with.

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Last week I thought long and hard about the reason why someone would get a bio-hazard tattoo on their body, and then I asked myself why I would get one. I decided I would get a Biohazard tattoo not because I wanted to feel better about myself being HIV positive, but it was because I felt for the people that couldn't be open about their status. There are many reasons why a person cannot be open about their status: it could be because of their family, friends, partner/s, fear of persecution, death, etc. But a lot of these reasons come from stigma. Stigma of how one is treated when being open about their HIV status is very much alive and well. I got this tattoo for those mentioned above to help fight against HIV stigma.

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Growing older does not always translate into developing emotional maturity. I know that I learned how to interact with people in a way that avoided conflict. I did not want to hurt anyone else's feelings because I knew how it felt, and I also feared retaliation and then escalation. So I learned how to tell people only what I wanted them to know, and more often than not, I told them what I thought they wanted to hear. I'm a Libra, so I thought I was just being diplomatic, but it turns out I was actually living more like a spy! As a spy, I operated under the assumption that most people don't want (or need) the truth. In fact, most people can't handle the truth!

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"Tyler Perry's Temptation left me emotionally pained, angry and disappointed. Mr. Perry, a brilliant film maker, missed a genuine opportunity for honest and accurate community education around HIV. Instead, Temptation perpetuated HIV sensationalism and stigma. It demonized people living with HIV as irresponsible and portrayed women who acquire HIV as an undesirable, reclusive, sub-species, destined to live out their lives in suffering," commented Waheedah Shabazz-El, a woman living with HIV.

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Sometimes it's not about the Oscars -- news from Hollywood that is. In spite of what you read in the tabloids, this isn't the land of celebs running all over town in their Bentleys, charging whatever they want on Rodeo Drive. It's actually a town where one in seven people live under the poverty line. It's a town where over 60,000 individuals struggle daily with HIV/AIDS. It's a town, where in spite of whatever the Kardashians are cooking up next, has seen its median income drop nearly $4,000 between 2007 and 2010, to a pretty impossible to live on here amount of $52,384. This number, coupled with the fact that Los Angeles County has the highest amount of uninsured individuals in the State of California, makes you wonder how anyone can even afford to attend the Oscars.

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Since 2007, my inner critic has been extra busy. Sure, he's always been a really, hard worker but since HIV moved in, he's been pulling extra shifts. First one in, last one out, and rarely takes a sick day. In fact, he does his job with such consistency and dedication that most of the time he goes unnoticed. Until recently, that is. My newfound awareness, after observing him in action, has brought me to the conclusion that it's time for him to take a much-needed vacation.

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