The end of November has for the last few years been a difficult time for me personally. With the anniversary of losing my Dad in 2016, I find myself in a state of heightened self-awareness and willingness to be more compassionate. Not that I’m not those things during the rest of the year, but it is a bit more important because that moment in my life changed me forever. Over the last ten years (specifically as a gay man) I have come to meet some spectacular people who have revealed to me their stories about living with HIV/AIDS. Where is the correlation you ask? Well, for a long time finding out you were positive was a moment that meant your life as you knew it was over. Over the aforementioned decade, the medical advances made in the treatment of those living with HIV/AIDS has allowed it to become similar to living with diabetes. Leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1st, I found out that a recent survey revealed that “almost half of (the) people in North America say they would not be comfortable sharing skin-to-skin touch with someone who is HIV+.”
I normally do my best to keep my language in check here on the blog, so please understand the severity of the following statement.
That is not fucking okay.
Continue reading “Enough Is Enough”
