My Letter to HIV: A Letter From Khafre Abif

Khafre Abif

Dear HIV,

We were first introduced in through our social network in 1989. I did not have enough information about you nor was I consciously connecting to my sexual behavior with my sexual identity. You traveled with your friend syphilis looking for any opening to attack and you both crashed the party. Your friend syphilis became noticeable while you went about your work without detection.

I found you hiding in 1991 when I went to get tested because I wanted to ask my girlfriend to marry me. I wanted to be responsible because I had unprotected sex with both men and women during the 1980s. You knew that I didn’t believe that I was at risk because the men that I had sex with also had girlfriends. I think you knew that I was a perfect target because of the combination of denial, shame and internalized homophobia that was at work in my spirit and mind.

Read Khafre Abif's full letter to HIV.