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.