Susan, age 54 | New York, USA
I guess I don’t even think about it too much anymore. In the first few years? Like, almost 24/7, it was something that was on my mind: am I gonna be around for my kids? …
Support
Jesse, age 59 | Ellicot City, Maryland, USA
I was aware that I was likely positive. My late partner died of AIDS in 1985, and I am very certain that I had a transmission in about 1982 …
Hope, age 62 | Francistown, Botswana
I was working with a family, and somebody had some kind of blisters that week. I was in Australia then. I was away from home, …
Jesus, age 56 | Mexico & California, USA
I arrived to USA in 1984. I knew what started to be in the news, everything about the gay cancer. Honestly I was not jumping from bed to bed …
Phumzile, age 52 | Johannesburg, South Africa
We need to remember that HIV is a justice issue. If we don’t deal with the structural injustices, people will continue being vulnerable to HIV …
Proscovia, age 55 | Tororo, Uganda
For a long time, I have been working with the media. I have been writing my stories, and that’s how I’ve been getting support. …
Ron, age 50 | District of Columbia, USA
I was a closeted gay man working in international development. I had been a Peace Corps volunteer and was going to school for public health, …
Julian, age 58 | South London, United Kingdom
I’m the typical “helper.” Actually that’s really good therapy, it makes you reflect upon yourself. I was an activist in the ‘70s, in gay liberation, …
Betti, age 51 | Abidjan, Ivory Coast
I discovered my status after I gave birth, in 1997. I was sick and I went to see a doctor at the hospital. I asked for a checkup and they told me …
Dave, 68 | California, USA
We got kicked out of our church. We got kicked out of our small group. The pastor was in visiting me when the doctor told me, and he told his wife. And so we ended up having to leave …
Michael, age 62 | Auckland, New Zealand
I was diagnosed in September 2010. I’ve only had it 4 years. It couldn’t have been much earlier than that. Because I was in a relationship, …
Suzanne, age 59 | Melbourne, Australia
I first learned that I was HIV-positive in a letter from a doctor. I’d been working in a little hospital in rural Africa, but I had to go …
Rodney, age 67 | Melbourne, Australia
I didn’t come out. I didn’t tell anyone. No one knew for 10 years. And I think that’s what helped me. You see, on that day I was told …
Luwiza, age 51 | Lusaka, Zambia
Despite the health personnel saying that, “You isolate her,” my sister was there for me. My mother was there. Would sleep in the same room. My sister would be next to me …
Meng Lin, age 53 | Beijing, China
I told my family, and I do not have a full knowledge about HIV/AIDS, but I tell them I’m HIV-positive. The same day I’ve been kicked out by the family. And all my friends get away …
Ella, age “nearly 50” | Selangor, Malaysia
In year 2003 I already need to be on medications, but at that particle of time, that we need to pay about 1,000 ringget Malaysia, and my salary is …
Katherine, age 56 | Adelaide, Australia
I always wanted a big family, you know – four to six children. My career was in childcare. I found out that I was positive and pregnant …
David, age 61 | Melbourne, Australia
I’ve really had a lot of AIDS-defining illnesses in the ‘90s, some of which I’ve lived with since. I’ve developed diabetes, and, as a consequence, …
Deloris, age 54 | New Jersey, “Jamerican” (USA & Jamaica)
I am very fortunate. I’ve been able to educate myself to the graduate level. I hold down a really decent job. I make, in nonprofit, nonprofit-decent money…
Art, age 62 | Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, Anishnawbe / Toronto, Canada
I’m 62 now, but I came out when I was 26. So it was quite late. And back then, being out was not– it was …
Bill, age 64 | Cairns, Australia
It’s very difficult to meet positive people, because mostly, they’re still too afraid to come out and disclose their status to almost anyone. And I really would like to have a positive …
Doris, age 58 & Randy, age 48 | Canada
Doris: I was caught up in my addictions, and I thought the weight loss was connected to my substance use, until I started seeing …
Larry, 61 | Springfield, IL
I wanted to do something that made a difference, and that’s why I took the job for Mayor Daley as his representative to the gay & lesbian community. …
Los Doctores (Louis, 51 & Rosalia, 47) | Fort Lauderdale, FL
Louis: She took a chance with me. It’s funny, I’m positive, but I didn’t wanna ask a woman that was negative if they would like to go out with me, because of the rejection that I might get. …
Looking Forward
Many long-term survivors and their more recently diagnosed peers are struggling with the consequences of the current societal complacency about the AIDS epidemic here in …
Recurring Themes – Sex & Dating
We may not talk about it or see it on movie screens, but sex and romance continue to play an important role in many people’s lives as they age. Some who have lost a long-term romantic …
Recurring Themes – How It Feels
Many diseases and infections affect a specific part of the body, but HIV lives in the immune system and therefore ultimately impacts the whole body. While health care providers are …
Recurring Themes – Communication
Communicating about HIV and risk behaviors related to sex or substance use can be difficult. Even when they know how to keep themselves safe, …