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After stumbling across some amazing videos about HIV/AIDS awareness targeted toward gay men, I was itching to share them. As a straight woman, however, I was struggling to come up with an introduction. Luckily, a friend of mine named Jordan graciously offered to help and instead wrote this amazing post. HIV/AIDS awareness is extremely important, so please take the time to read and share it!
LogoTV’s Real Men Revealed series has quickly become my favorite advertising campaign for so many reasons. As a gay man, it’s so refreshing to see depictions of us that, to me at least, seem to be missing from tv. There’s a drag queen of color whose body type doesn’t fall into the typical categories of twink, bear, or jock. There’s the firefighter who describes himself as a “man who sleeps with men” with a thick New York accent. Seeing such real portrayals of gay men on tv is only one of the reasons I love this campaign, though. The best part is its “full-frontal realness.” It’s rare for the media to talk about issues surrounding HIV/AIDS this far from World AIDS Day on December 1 and stressing the importance of getting tested. With that, I present:
The Top 6 Reasons Why You Should Get Tested for HIV:
- Anyone can get HIV! Despite having the reputation of being a disease that only affected gay men and black people back in the 80s, this is not true. While MSM (men who sleep with men) and black people make up the bulk of new HIV infections, straight people and people of other races and ethnicities are also impacted. It doesn’t matter what kind of sex you have, either; HIV can be transmitted through oral, anal, or vaginal sex. No matter who you sleep with, make sure you get tested. If you aren’t monogamous, make sure you’re getting tested at least once every six months.
- HIV tests are free! I can’t speak for every testing facility, but if you live in or near a major city, chances are there will be public health clinics that provide HIV and STI testing free of charge.
- Anonymous HIV tests are available! Every time I have been tested, I have been known only by the bar code that was on my intake form. I had to list personal information about my sex life, drug and alcohol habits, and testing history, but none of that information was ever connected to my name.
- There’s no big time commitment! HIV testing can done in as little as 15 minutes. Once the test starts, you will talk to the test provider about how to reduce your chances of getting HIV, your course of action if your test does come up positive, and what protections are afforded to people with HIV (for example, did you know that people with HIV are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act?). The biggest time commitment for HIV testing in 2014 is commuting to the testing facility. I’ve included a testing facility locator from aids.gov at the bottom of this post.
- No needles required! I’ll reiterate that for all of you out there who are scared of needles: HIV testing can be done without needles! While many STI tests require a lot of blood to be drawn, HIV tests can be done with a prick to the finger or even an oral swab. Needles are no excuse to not get tested!
- If you don’t get tested, you can’t say you don’t have it. The moment you have unprotected sex with someone, you have put yourself at risk for contracting HIV. Even if your partner(s) say that they are HIV negative, many infections are transmitted by people who didn’t know that they were living with HIV. Now, there’s no need to get tested after every new sexual encounter, but if you’ve slept with someone new and it’s been six months since your last test, it’s time to do it again. That’s the only way you can say with certainty that you are not living with HIV.
After you get tested, talk about it! Post it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or whatever social media site you choose. Only through talking about HIV testing can we end the stigma. To make sure I walk the walk while talking the talk I should say that I was last tested for HIV in January 2014, and I plan to get tested again in July 2014. Your post doesn’t need to sound that serious, but make sure you use the hashtag #knowyourstatus to help boost awareness.
Before showing you Logo’s ads, I want to close with two important statements.
- HIV is not a death sentence. Many people live long lives with HIV with modern medicine. Your testing provider can answer any questions you may have about living with HIV.
- There is no reason to be ashamed of having HIV. Our culture tends to shame people who contract STIs, especially HIV, but there is no reason to feel ashamed. As I said before, anyone can get HIV. Despite what society may try to tell you, living with HIV or an STI does not make you dirty or unworthy of love. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, find me and I will explain to them why they are wrong.
Find HIV/AIDS Prevention & Service Providers
Enter your address, city and state, or ZIP Code:
For more information on this widget, please visit AIDS.gov.