Taking the Test: What's Your Experience?

Ernesto Dominguez, Cascade AIDS Project, Portland, Ore.

When I first asked my doctor if I could get an HIV test -- because I thought it was part of routine testing, which, apparently, it wasn't -- he didn't think that I was at-risk enough, even though I was a youth of color, and I was queer. He knew about the sex that I was having. And even when I asked for it, he didn't necessarily feel that it was appropriate, or that I needed it. He hemmed and hawed and finally, he gave me the test. But what that does is, it doesn't make me want to ask him again. So now I just kind of go to community-based organizations, which I think are the ones that are leading this effort.

If your doctor isn't willing or able to do it, or if you feel uncomfortable talking to a doctor, you can always go to a community-based organization, like Cascade AIDS Project, and get a free, or a confidential, HIV test.