Guys, my friend Tony will be giving a presentation about HIV stigma at an LGBT health summit in a few weeks.  Please see his email below and contact him directly if you can help him with some feedback.  Also know that not everyone has faced stigma because they are HIV+, but many have. 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: HIV Stigma
From: Tony Valenzuela <tonyvalenzuela@...>
Date: Mon, August 03, 2009 10:01 am

Dear Bryan,

Thanks for posting this for me.  This is what I want to ask the guys at SIN:

HIV stigma is something most HIV positive people have to deal with in their lives, even in big cities.  It can take the form of language in online profiles (UB2, "dd free" (drug disease free), "clean"); it can appear in HIV prevention ads (like the recent campaigns that showed HIV positive men in diapers, with a bloated belly or facial wasting to scare neg men into safer sex); or it can take the form of the way people treat you once they know you're positive (they pity you, treat you like a "victim," wont' date you, etc.)

My question is not about what forms of HIV stigma you experience but, instead, how you combat HIV stigma in your own lives?  For example, maybe you refuse to play the victim.  Maybe you call people out on their ignorance when appropriate.  Maybe you're out about your HIV status and are always matter of fact about it.  Maybe you have a sense of humor about your HIV status.  Maybe you embrace your sexuality, even as HIV positive.  These are all ways that we might combat HIV stigma.

What are ways you combat HIV stigma in your own life?

I will be talking about anti-HIV stigma strategies at a conference in Chicago on August 15th.  Your thoughts before then would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Tony Valenzuela
tonyvalenzuela@...