A Test of Character
I'm on to the subject of HIV Testing again and two things
impressed me this week. Seeing a poster for National HIV Testing Week on a
phone box in Manchester city centre (I know-they still exist!) and a really important
article tucked away in the December issue of Attitude by Kristian Johns.
Now these days more of us are coming out of the HIV closet and
more of us are getting tested so it stands to reason that there’s a lot more
HIV to talk about than ever before.And so?
I know ‘blah-blah’ another lecture but no it isn’t just about
HIV Testing. It’s about trying to stay safe if you are HIV negative and trying
to stay well if you are HIV positive, and of course I mean well in every sense - Spirit, Body & Soul (wasn’t
that a Nolan’s song?)
Anyway, there is so much supposed awareness of HIV these days and so
much talk about ‘complacency’ -you get
it, you get your meds, you carry on and yes you do have to look at it like that
if you are affected by HIV... but we all know it isn’t that bloody simple.
Trust me I’ve spent enough hours in gentlemen’s clubs of the
homosexual variety to know it’s a lot of fun and bummery but in hindsight what’s
really important is:
a) sticking around
long enough to move forward in life so you’re not thinking about HIV every
day.
b) looking after yourself as what’s the point of
dragging yourself even further downhill - nobody else is going to look
after you.
Knowing your HIV status is either the greatest relief or the
biggest shock but what it does do is give you a second chance.
A chance to think about your life and a chance to think
about the way you are living it.
It is one thing you do have control over. How you deal with
it is another matter entirely.I know many people who say stoically that a positive diagnosis was the most important thing to happen to them in their entire life. On the other hand many are still struggling day in, day out to come to terms with their status, their self-esteem, rejection, other people’s prejudices and the sheer isolation of a lonely road travelled without direction.
It’s times like these when we need real friends and believe me
it’s times like this when you find out who they really are.
Anyone is entitled
to go off the rails when they get the news of a positive diagnosis but sooner
or later you need to get yourself back on track and that’s so much easier with
good friends around you to support you. It’s also vital to get the support that
you need and make sure that you call those LGBT & HIV charities because
you need them and believe it or not they need you too.
If you’ve never tested before or haven’t tested for a while,
it’s important to remember that it’s really easy to test and the benefits of
knowing your HIV status far outweigh the ‘ignorance is bliss’ philosophy.
Time to face up to the facts and start living our lives, not
regretting past decisions or worrying about the future.
Do what you need to do
to keep yourself sane and sanguine and get what help you need to move forward.
Taking personal responsibility for reducing onward
transmission of HIV by taking an HIV test is the message for National HIV Testing
Week but of course this is only the very beginning of our discussion about HIV.
Soon World Aids Day will be upon us and we’ll have to deal yet again with more ‘shocking’
statistics about HIV transmission in the gay community.
Don’t let these statistics get you down, it is not
inevitable that you are going to get HIV and if you do some of the most
beautiful men I know are HIV positive and there is so much love and support out
there for you.
Let’s keep talking and lend a hand to everyone out there who
is campaigning for more understanding about how HIV affects all our lives. We
really need to support one another.www.tht.org.uk/itstartswithme
www.gmfa.org.uk/Sites/fsmagazine
