Queerty contributor Mark S. King has curated a Pride Month art exhibit, Proud to be Positive.
Living with HIV is nothing to be ashamed of. Most of us know that by now. But why is it something to be proud of?
After more than thirty years living with HIV, I know the answer. I am proud of what it represents to me: the empathy for others my diagnosis heightened, the constant attention to my physical health and emotional well-being, and the decades spent taking part in a movement of ferocious and committed advocates for a cause.
Proud to be Positive explores the identity of those of us with HIV, and asks if we might feel pride about this fundamental trait.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Here are selected works of art from the gallery…
Untitled , c. 1993-96, Nelson Rodriguez
silver gelatin print, 8×10, (Courtesy of the Estate of Nelson Edwin Rodriguez)
The subject of Greg Mitchell’s Self-Enforced Disclosure has branded himself with his POZ status. It feels unlikely he did so to degrade himself. His in-your-face disclosure might be simple provocation… or it might be pride. Can we not only come to terms with our status but embody it fully, seeing our lives as worthy of admiration, deserving of dignity?
We must reject the stigma that labels people with HIV as predatory, irresponsible, and lacking in self-respect. Being proud of all that we are is hardly the same as wishing it on others.
There is joy to be found in our lives with HIV, as several artists have documented, and the whimsical nature of Jonathan Leiter’s AbPoz (Homage to JG) goes even further, reducing the weighty “+” symbol to a harmless watercolor design suitable for papering a child’s nursery.
So, joy is allowed us, as are labels like “courageous” and “heroic.” HIV positive activists have long been admired for our fortitude, or for just having survived. (Peter Staley – 5 Color Print, 2007, George Towne)
We have even been sexualized – the greatest social cache available to gay men. But feeling pride, not in our response to HIV but in our very being with HIV, crosses into threatening territory. (Vinnie, 2002, Peter Wyman)
The reason is in the blood, of course. How can people with HIV, biohazards that we are, be trusted to keep it to ourselves? (MasterEmbrace, by Charles Hopkinson)
This is Pride Month, a time when the LGBT community will claim and honor a fundamental part of ourselves about which we once felt ashamed. It is worth considering whether or not people with HIV feel worthy, or are even allowed, to do the same.
Visit Visual AIDS to view the entire gallery.
aliengod
What an incredibly ignorant and irresponsible article. Why would anyone ever be proud to have HIV? The level of stupid is off the charts.
Kieru
Claiming pride in being HIV positive seems a bit of hyperbole to me… claiming pride in accepting who you are, proverbial warts and all? That’s something else entirely. I know (sadly) too many people who are HIV positive. Not one of them would claim they are proud of that status, but many live happy, and physically and emotionally healthy lives. Without fail every one of them would respond that while they are quite happy with themselves right now, and they accept their diagnosis… they are ashamed of who they were when they contracted the virus. Living 5 years or 10 years or in the authors case 30+ …. it adds perspective when you look back at the choices or mistakes that lead you down that path.
While I agree that we need to work to erase the stigma surrounding an HIV+ diagnosis, I think it’s perfectly healthy for an HIV+ person to look at his or her self and their choices with regret, albeit it while accepting that what’s done is done. After all, we learn from our mistakes, and a vast majority of HIV+ diagnosis in this country are the result of simple and easily avoidable mistakes (no condom, sharing needles, etc).
Realityis
“There is joy to be found in our lives with HIV”? Really? Is the joy having lipodystrophy? Taking meds I wouldn’t have to take if I were HIV negative? Covering up my arms and legs in 90 degree weather? Fearing rejection so not dating to keep from being rejected?
I really don’t like this guy.
Ok we know that you are ok with having this disease. Question: Did you want this disease? Did you actively seek out an HIV-positive guy to infect you? Big thing back in the late 90’s, early 00’s.
Why don’t you show Lipodystrophy in the exhibit? Show the downside of HIV. Show the things that make life with HIV hard to deal with. You sexualize this disease all the time and, if I were a betting man, probably endorse PrEP without the use of condoms, which is NOT how Truvada is supposed to be used. Pharmaceutical and insurance companies are, in fact, endorsing unsafe sex by not (somehow) enforcing this “little” piece of information. This is why we need a cure because Truvada as PrEP will never eradicate this disease.
I absolutely agree with Kieru and allengod. I have been positive for 22 years now and hate this disease as much today as I did in the mid 90’s. I’ve been successful as a person thru-out those years, but I would NEVER be proud that I have this disease.
This article sickens me.
MJL
@aliengod: You’re the ignorant one. Would you say the same thing to a Cancer survivor? Jeez why is it always negative guys on these forums that presume they can tell positive guys how they should think or feel about it.
jason smeds
You shouldn’t be ashamed of having an illness but it’s not exactly something to be proud of, either.
MJL
@jason smeds: Consider your comment when applied to some other examples:
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of [living your life in a wheelchair] but it’s not exactly something to be proud of, either” or
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of [living with Cancer] but it’s not exactly something to be proud of, either” or
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of [having no hair] but it’s not exactly something to be proud of, either”
Why can’t someone feel proud about who they are? Just because they might be living with something that seems like a terrible thing to you, doesn’t mean it is to them.
Blazipitous
I loved your article “I Am The Man My Father Built”, Mark, and I’m really glad you’ve fully accepted the fact that you’re HIV+ and managing it, but it’s still a deadly disease — not necessarily a death sentence — but a deadly CHRONIC disease. Surely no one sane would be proud of that. Why am I even saying “… no one sane would …” when you commented on that article that you got the crazy from Daddy!
Masc Pride
This is really sick (pun intended).
Stache99
@Kieru: Mark is being provocative and knows full well that this will be attacked by those that can’t accept any philosophy that doesn’t include shame.
Stache99
@Realityis: He talks about many different things concerning HIV. Would you be happier if he just made all of his posts negative?
Not sure why it’s relevant to bring up PrEP here but if Mark is talking about it then it’s only a reflection of reality whether you like it or not. If used consistently it has the same reliability as condoms.
Stache99
Damn. Who knew a subject that I thought was pretty tame (I’m proud of myself) would get such hate. One post was “I hate you mark!” and another “your crazy”! LMAO
Kieru
@Stache99: I would say that in cases where a person became positive because they put their want for pleasure over their health, a certain amount of shame and regret is not only warranted, but healthy. Again, it’s not something one should feel forever or to a degree that it is debilitating; more like looking back and seeing the mistakes you made and having regret that you weren’t wise enough to see them for what they were.
The worst thing I could think of would be an HIV+ person pretending their status was meaningless or that being positive has been of a benefit to them. While it’s important to find the silver lining in any bad situation, HIV infection rates are on the rise in our community precisely because we’re starting to see HIV as “no big deal”. We certainly don’t want to encourage that mindset.
So yes, be happy with who you are – but never forget that your status was likely the result of reckless behavior, and you should encourage others not to follow in your footsteps.
TrueWords
HIV is a major problem; always has been, from the moment it struck. It’s especially tough for gay people. We have it more than other groups, many of us do stuff that makes it easier to transmit. We have to be vigilant to keep from getting it, and if that vigilance is supposed to last throughout our sexual lives, then, for most, there will be lapses. And there will be difficult conversations with our doctors and families and friends.
I don’t see the point in slut-shaming people who get HIV. I don’t think it’s something to celebrate, but being honest about it is. Tearing people down for contracting HIV is something our enemies are already doing; let’s instead try to be supportive instead of accusing people with HIV of feeding into the other side’s hatred, which would exist even if HIV never existed.
Stache99
@Kieru: I think the whole point is how you deal with it. 1. You can change your life and be a better person. 2. You can do nothing. 3. You can let yourself get worse and throw your life away. If you take the first choice then yes it is something to feel proud about. Simple as that.
Prinny
There’s nothing prideful if you contracted HIV through sex.The only thing you deserve is a gigantic sign with the words IDIOT on your forehead.
Realityis
@Stache99: There is certainly pride in number 1, but the heading states being proud that you are HIV +. Re-read my first post. What exactly about having HIV should one be proud of? I am answering this foolishness literally.
The only ones I can see being proud of being HIV + are the ones who intentionally infected themselves, because guess what, they succeeded.
I have accomplished a lot since I tested positive….. 2 national sport medals, fitness training for 10 years, excelled in my professional life… but none of this is attributed to HIV. What can HIV do to help you be proud of something. I am proud that I survived this disease for so many years, but I am not proud that I have this disease.
It’s a ridiculous article and if all of the boys on this site were only looking at men and woman who had liposdystrophy, there would be a completely different set of comments. That’s reality.
HIV should not be glossed over, it should be cured and people that advocate taking PrEP without using the other safe sex practices that Truvada indicates on their website, make me sick to my stomach. We will NEVER end HIV this way.
L1on1989
So much hate. Are any of you actually positive? Contracting HIV doesn’t make you an “IDIOT.” There are over 3.2 million CHILDREN living with HIV in the world. Are they idiots? Don’t they deserve the same fighting chance as you? Some of the most intelligent advocates for the LGBT community are positive and have done more for us than any of you have and ever will. “Pride” may not be the best word; however, there is a level of acceptance that we reach with our own lives that allow us to live just like anyone else; which includes “going out with bare arms and legs in 90 degree weather” (which is the most ignorant statement I ever read). Do your homework. Open your hearts and minds–the catty comments delivered behind a digital mask are far from intelligent or warranted. When are we going to start acting like a community? Ridiculous….
Realityis
@L1on1989: First off, my statement is not ignorant because I live it everyday as you can read from my posts. And yes I am positive for over 22 years. Don’t trivialize what I and many others, documented on thebody.com and other HIV sites, are dealing with. And I am not a CHILD of anything but my mom and dad. SO DON”T HATE ON ME. Do you even know what lipodystrophy is?
Secondly, I am hating on one thing. HIV. Well also the sexualizing of it. HIV is and never will be sexual or appealing. There may be guys who are still hot and good looking, but I am responding to the ludicrous headline of this article and yes it does say Pride in the same sentence as HIV. I guarantee most people would look at me and not think I am sexy any more. It’s reality and I accept it.
F**K if people would spend more time and effort on demanding a cure as they are about supporting a drug that will in no way eradicate this disease by itself, then maybe we would be in a better place.
I’m angry, don’t get me started with your ridiculous BS about loving the world and LA DI DA. HIV sucks and there is nothing SEXY, HAPPY, PRIDEFUL, ENVIOUS, or LOVING about the disease.
L1on1989
@Realityis: Sounds like you just need someone to talk to…. :/
offbeatoh86
Living with a potentially deadly disease is not something to be proud of. Living a full & happy life in spite of the disease is.
Realityis
@L1on1989: Thanks for the advice, but I’ve got plenty of people to talk too. I’m about scaring the masses so we all wake up…. that’s all.
Time for you to set your alarm clock.
Jacob23
Like a lot of people, I enjoyed Mark King’s post about his dad. But IMHO, Mark King himself is one seriously warped individual. His website is one of the most chilling and nauseating things I have experienced since I saw Silence of the Lambs.
Mark, you have nothing to be proud of. Based on the accounts you tell on your website, you were reckless and indifferent towards your own life and the life and health of others. You may well have seriously injured a great many people. You may have killed people. But despite your self-congratulation on your newfound sense of empathy, I didn’t see anything on your site to indicate that you spend any time thinking about who you might have harmed. Your “fabulous disease” has also inflicted costs on hospitals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, orderlies, taxpayers, and insurance policyholders. A lot of people have worked a lot of hours and have paid a lot of money in order in order to care for you and cover the cost of your privileged mindset and your lack of decency. They are the heroes. You should be thanking them instead of congratulating yourself.
Clark35
This artwork is extremely dated, and nobody should be ‘proud’ to be HIV+ not even bug chasers and people who get infected by accident or on purpose.
Now you have tons of foolish gay men who take Truvada like it is candy, think that there are little to no side effects when that’s not true, and think that it’s like 1975 and they can bareback anyone they want and won’t get any STDs let alone HIV, and think that they can bareback with poz men as long as their viral load is ‘undetectable’ and nobody will get re-infected, or get a new strain of HIV that messes up their medications and destroys their immune system even more.
People who are HIV+ should not feel like pariahs but sexualizing HIV/bareback sex is a total step back from what LGBT people and even heterosexuals went through in the 80s.
@Jacob23: Agreed he always mentions bareback sex somehow, and advocates for it, and he’s a meth addict and crack head.
Clark35
@Stache99: You’re supposed to use PrEP/Truvada with condoms and while practicing safer sex; but the fools that take it and think they can bareback do not do this.
Clark35
Are you HIV+ stache99?
MJL
@Clark35, @Prinny, @Blazipitous, @jacob23. wow. So much hate. Are you Christians by any chance? You come on here and spit hate and vitriol towards positive people – calling them meth addicts, warped, sick, idiots, insane and stupid because some of us choose to feel proud that we are living with HIV. Who are you to judge someone who might have made a mistake once – who maybe had unprotected sex that led to HIV – why do you think it’s right for you to rub their noses in it with a holier than thou attitude. Have you seriously never made a mistake in your life? In the 80’s and 90’s negative and positive guys stood side by side and supported each other. We didn’t try to condemn and shame each other with ‘told you so’ attitudes. Where is the compassion? Your comments sound more like those of right wing groups – that compassion is only deserved if you’re entirely blameless. I really hope that when you fall down and make a mistake – whether that’s in the bedroom, the workplace or in your relationships – that the people around you, your supposed community, don’t stand around shaming you and telling you you’re insane, stupid, sick or an idiot to want to get on with your life, live with the consequences and feel proud of who you are. I hope they show you compassion and support you, rather than trying to shame you. Then maybe you’ll learn from them how to be a better person towards others. Remember, it’s not for you to tell others how they must think and feel about themselves. That’s what religion is for 🙂
Raphael
@MJL: YAAAAS drag those basic white negative gays
Raphael
Basic gays: HIV+ undetectable has only a REALLY small change to infect you. The problem here is stigma. See? that’s why HIV+ people need to be proud of their status. I’m HIV- and I have no problem with having sex/dating someone HIV+.
And stop with the slut shaming. Not all HIV+ got infected with bareback sex (and if so there’s nothing whrong with it)
MJL
@Jacob23: Your comment is particularly moronic: Your “fabulous disease” has also inflicted costs on hospitals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, orderlies, taxpayers, and insurance policyholders.
You seem to be implying that someone who is HIV+ should feel shame because they are a burden on the healthcare system. By that logic the vast majority of people with illnesses/accidents that hospitals treat should also feel shamed, because in so many cases the person’s choices may have been a contributing factor. So should we only show compassion/give treatment to Cancer patients who don’t drink/smoke/use under-arm aerosols? Should we not show compassion or provide healthcare to someone who didn’t look left-right-left before crossing the street then got hit by a car? Or a driver, who despite being educated on holding the wheel in the 10 and 2 position, didn’t and crashed?
Humans are fallible. I’m sure at some point in your life you will need treatment for an accident / illness that your actions might have contributed to in some way. Presumably, in spite of this, you’ll feel entitled to healthcare without judgement because you’ve either paid taxes and/or for insurance policies to cover that treatment. How’re you going to feel when someone starts with the whole ‘you brought this on yourself’ attitude?
Have some foresight and realise that one day you might be in a similar position. So treat others now how you would like to be treated when that day comes. And don’t be such a self-righteous douche.
Realityis
@Raphael: No Raphael, you should be proud that you are winning over HIV not that you have it. Get the difference.
It’s not about slut-shaming, it’s about the likelihood of spreading the virus thru bareback sex. If you are monogamous and so is your partner and you have both been tested negative on a continuous basis, then bareback the hell out of each other…. 🙂
Realityis
@MJL: MJL, why is it always about religion when someone disagree’s with using PrEP and continuing unsafe behavior?
Why can’t it be that these guys are just medical professionals or just plain want to see this virus gone. You make it sound so black and white.
Again, if you are monogamous and so is your partner and you have both been tested negative on a continuous basis, then bareback the hell out of each other…. 🙂
MJL
@Realityis: My reference to religion was simply a light-hearted way to draw a comparison between a. the hate and vitriol spewed by some negative guys towards positive guys (similar, don’t you think, to what a lot of Christian extremists spew about gays) and b. the way some guys think they can tell another how they should think and feel about themselves (similar to how religion tells people what to think and feel). If you read my comment again you’ll see it has nothing to do with whether you agree with PrEP or unsafe behaviour, but rather how you judge and treat others in a public forum.
onthemark
Although I’ve been poz for a long time, I swear I never understand anything Mark King has to say about it. I do READ it all, hoping that something will strike a chord, but I may need a “translator” or something?
@MJL: I agree with you – the vitriol from the slut-shaming neg crowd always seems very Christian-esque to me! They feel such a compulsion to pop in on each and every HIV article, and that behavior is in itself very similar to Christian proselytizing.
@Stache99: You make the best comment here. (Maybe you could be my Mark King “translator.”) I often learn something from your comments.
Stache99
@Clark35: @Jacob23: Shocking Troll agrees with troll.
Stache99
@onthemark: Why thank you! I think I just come into it without any agenda or emotions that get the better of me.
Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. The author intentionally does some word play. He puts out a title meant to grab everyone’s attention and then clarifies it later. No where does he say he’s proud to have HIV though. Only what having it represents to him.
“I am proud of what it represents to me: the empathy for others my diagnosis heightened, the constant attention to my physical health and emotional well-being, and the decades spent taking part in a movement of ferocious and committed advocates for a cause.”
Stache99
@Clark35: Was bringing up his drug use necessary? Mark has been really been open about it and took part in one of the best documentaries on it ever and in return has helped countless people. As I said to your other troll buddy what have you done to help people other then sit on your ass on your computer attacking people?
Jacob23
@MJL: Whether he ought to feel shame at burdening the health care system and using limited health care resources for three decades is a separate question from whether he should be feeling proud of himself and calling himself a hero. My comment went to the latter question and you can agree with what I said without having to conclude that he should feel shame.
I also didn’t say that society shouldn’t continue to provide care for him. We can’t let people die, even bad people.
All that having been said, yes, he should feel shame. His situation is not analogous to an accident or even a one-off instance of carelessness. It is the product of a long pattern of utter disregard for himself and others. I don’t know him personally, but he has shared the horrifying details on his website. Go read it. When I first heard about it, I assumed the website’s name was ironic, i.e., although it is called “My Fabulous Disease” when the reader arrived at the site, he would soon learn the hard realities of living with HIV. But amazingly, it’s really not meant to be ironic. King actually exalts the state of being diseased, as you see above. He also argues that gay people should not sacrifice sexual pleasure in order to avoid becoming infected with venereal disease:
“During my early years of recreational sex in the busy gay mecca, I
caught The Clap so many times I called it The Applause. . . . When did avoiding every possible STI become the new goal for gay sexual behavior? . . . The very idea of getting The Clap again just makes me feel nostalgic. No longer is avoiding HIV the prime objective? we must also now use a condom every time so that we are never exposed to, well, whatever.
How many hoops must we jump through in order to fuck in a
pleasurable way? We can’t win for losing.” (January 13, 2015)
This same mindset gives him permission to put aside compassion for the people he may have harmed.
Whether this is an extreme form of postmodernism, mental illness, or just rank evil I don’t know. But whatever it is, it isn’t comparable to a driver who fails to keep his hands at 10 and 2 on one occasion, causes an accident, and then later feels remorse for what happened. A better analogy is someone who drives recklessly year after year, harming other motorists and pedestrians, griping that the traffic laws are hoops that he shouldn’t have to jump through, demanding lifelong care after he harms himself, and then declaring himself a hero.
Clark35
@Stache99: I volunteer at a local LGBT center. So Mark has been open about his drug use, that doesn’t mean that he is not mentally ill, and does not sexualize HIV/AIDS and promote bareback sex with HIV+ people.
Clark35
@MJL: What myself and others posted is not ‘hate’. In the 80s and 90s people who were intelligent wanted to avoid getting HIV did not want to get other STDs either, and practiced safer sex and continue to do so today, and do not pop Truvada as though it’s candy and bareback like it’s the 70s. Your silly comment about religion just shows how much of a dizzy clueless queen you are.
LMAO of course someone brought up “slut shaming” as though it’s somehow bad to say that having lots of bareback sex with random men, and not practicing safer sex at all is fine.
Clark35
@Jacob23: I wonder how many strains of HIV Mark S. King has? Or bacterial infections, and other STDs? I would not be surprised if he has herpes, HPV, Hep C, and has infected lots of men with these STDs and gotten infected with new strains of HIV or been re-infected with the original strain of HIV that he has, as that’s what happens if you are HIV+ and bareback even if you are on meds and the guys you are with swear up and down that they are “undetectable”.
MJL
@Clark35: What is it about taking PrEP and then having BB sex that you object to?
Clark35
@MJL: It’s mainly that the drug is not designed to be used this way as you are supposed to be using condoms and having safer sex, and not just barebacking and putting hope into a medication keeping you HIV neg.
A lot of men who take PrEP/Truvada and bareback are going to become HIV+. But I guess they have the mentality that they’re either invincible, or that eventually they will become poz and have to go on meds so they start HIV meds early.
MJL
@Clark35:
“If you use PrEP consistently and correctly, it is 92%–99% effective in reducing your HIV risk, whether you use a condom or not.” source: http://men.prepfacts.org/the-questions/ produced by sfaf.org
“Condoms used 100% of the time, though not necessarily 100% perfectly (i.e. with usual rates of breakage and slippage) provide protection of 80 to 85% against HIV (uncertainty range: 76 to 93%).” source: http://www.aidsmap.com/Do-condoms-work/page/1746203/ produced by National AIDS Manual
Where are you getting your information from when you claim “A lot of men who take PrEP/Truvada and bareback are going to become HIV+”?
Surely if someone is protecting themselves with PrEP, which is statistically more effective in preventing transmission that condoms, why is having BB sex such a problem?
Clark35
Because PrEP/Truvada is not 100% effective against HIV as condoms are if they are used correctly, and you can easily get a lot more STDs besides HIV from BB sex than you can from using a condom since some STDs like HPV and herpes are spread by skin to skin contact.
It’s common knowledge that BB sex with random men, or people who are HIV+ eventually leads to infection, and the people who think that the meds are fine to take with no long or short term side effects, and will actually prevent or keep preventing them from getting HIV are fools.
MJL
@Clark35: *sigh* ok, I’m done trying to educate you. Bye felicia.
jwtraveler
Historically stigma has served an important social function. It dissuaded people from engaging in irresponsible, harmful and self-destructive behavior. Nowadays, we have not only eliminated stigma, we have turned irresponsible, harmful and self-destructive behavior into a virtue and source of pride. I’m not in favor of ostracizing or punishing people who have made mistakes or poor choices in their lives, but I think the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Contracting a deadly, but preventable disease is not something to be proud of.
Realityis
If you are proud that you are HIV positive, then you must have wanted to be HIV positive.
Truvada alone will not eradicate this disease.
That is all.
Clark35
@jwtraveler: Exactly.
@Realityis: Very true. You have people like MJL who think that Truvada is completely effective and you can take it and bareback with anyone even HIV+ people and that it will always work. *facepalm*
MJL
@Clark35: If you read the actual statistics I quoted it says that Truvada is 92-99% effective. I didn’t say it was completely effective – nothing is. But Truvada is more effective than condoms which are 80-85% effective. Try reading the comments slower and you might see what they actually say, rather than what you want them to say. Misquoting me just undermines the credibility of your argument.
Clark35
MJL-So do you take Truvada and bareback with HIV+ men? Are you HIV+?
MJL
@Clark35: Both my partner and I have been undetectable for many years. We have bareback sex with each other and sometimes with other positive guys or guys on PrEP. What’s your point?
MJL
@Clark35: The only reason I’m pressing you on this is that I genuinely want to understand why America has this weird ‘Truvada whore’ culture. I’m from the UK and over here we don’t have that. Here, PrEP is seen as a positive thing, a way for guys to protect themselves against HIV that offers greater protection than condoms. People on it aren’t slut-shamed. So I’m always so surprised when I see comments on this site where people see taking PrEP and having BB sex as a bad thing. If the person is protected by PrEP what is so bad about BB sex? And I mean in relation to HIV, that’s what we’re discussing here, so lets not cloud the issue with other STD’s….most of which you can get through oral sex anyway (because who uses condoms for oral sex?). So I’m only pushing you on this to try to understand why you think BB sex when on PrEP is so irresponsible or something to be frowned upon?
Clark35
@MJL:Because PrEP/Truvada are not completely effective at protecting HIV+ people from getting co-infected, or re-infected with the strain of HIV they originally were infected with, and PrEP/Truvada is supposed to be used with a condom. Plus it does mess up any sort of medications someone is taking from actually working.
Enjoy your new strains of HIV, and STDs you get from hooking up with random men and doing them raw.
MJL
@Clark35: Errr…you do realise that PrEP is for HIV- men, not HIV+ men? So your comments about it not being “completely effective at protecting HIV+ people from getting co-infected, or re-infected with the strain of HIV they originally were infected with” and your other comment “Plus it does mess up any sort of medications someone is taking from actually working.” just don’t make any sense. For someone who lectures people so much about PrEP you’ve just shown that you don’t even understand the basic facts about it.
“You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1 infection. Do not take TRUVADA to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-negative.” Source: Truvada.com produced by Gilead.
In response to your final comment, please note:
“Acquisition of different HIV strains from multiple partners is called superinfection. First of all, we need to be more sure about whether superinfection actually occurs between HIV-positive persons. A definitive case of superinfection has not been documented.” Source: http://www.hivplusmag.com/treatment/2014/04/10/what-hiv-superinfection-and-how-do-i-prevent-it?page=full
o.codone
I’ve had this discussion with my friends. Why does the gay community promote this whole proud to be positive thing? Really? All being positive means is that at some point in your life you crossed the street without looking both ways. To say you are proud of it just sounds fake. I am negative and I’ve had to give up a lot to be negative. It’s a little offensive for positive guys to be flaunting it when I have to do without it. I could never forgive myself if I let my guard down and got it. No thanks. (did you notice the picture is from “the estate” of Nelson Rodriguez? So, sadly, we know what happened to him).
Clark35
@o.codone: Well said. What did you have to give up in order to be negative?
MJL-Co-infection/super infection do happen. There are HIV+ people who do take Truvada as an HIV medication.
MJL
Yes Truvada is also one of many hiv meds taken by some positive men. It was developed as an hiv treatmental long before it was used as prep by negative guys. I was on it myself nearly 10 years ago. However it is not taken as PrEP by positive men to protect against superinfection as you say in your earlier comment. It has 2 different uses for positive and negative guys.
Regarding superinfection, I’ve already posted a credible source that explains that no definitive case has ever been documented. If you can post a credible source that proves otherwise I’d be happy to consider it and possibly stand corrected. But you can’t state that it exists just because you say so without backing up such a claim with evidence. That’s how misinformation is spread.