Today is World AIDS Day.
Yes, I've started this post on a really obvious note, but it's an important one. Today is the 34th World AIDS Day and I hope that for most, the 1st December is marked in their calendar as it's an important date the world over.
When I was thinking about what to write to mark this occasion I wasn't sure what direction it was going to go. Stat heavy, fill it with horror stories, wag the proverbial finger about safe sex and testing. Or all three.
I'm going to try and not do any of those things, though I'm not going to guarantee it.
Safe sex is important and people should be keeping themselves as safe as possible. Getting tested in general is something anyone who is sexually active should be doing every six months and getting and HIV test should be an essential part of that.
See, I've already become preachy.
It is though that 100,000 people in Britain are living with HIV and 25% of these do not know that they have it. That is 25,000 people who are living their lives unaware that they have HIV and that they could potentially pass this on to future partners. If that scares you, it should. If you haven't been for a sexual health screening for a while then please go. It's much better to be living with the certainty of a clean bill of health than worrying and wondering that you could be one of the 25%.
And for anyone who did find that they had HIV there is support and information out there from many wonderful organisations. Charities like the
Terrence Higgins Trust (amazing people),
Body & Soul and the
National AIDS Trust.
It's important to recognise that in the last 30+ years treatment for HIV and AIDS has come a long way. While there still is no cure, HIV is a manageable condition, and with some lifestyle changes and the right drug regimen, the majority of HIV+ people are living as long (and in some cases longer) as those who are -ve.
But more education is still needed to reduce stigma and dispel the myth that this is a "gay" disease.
In fact, even LGBT young people need some education. I know many who think that there is now a cure for HIV or that it has been eradicated (yes, there are some people who believe this). Or there are those who think they're bullet proof and it'll never happen to them. I know people my own age (29) who think that the AIDS crisis of the 80's is a thing of the distant past and not something that we need to worry about.
That is dangerous thinking.
A generation of gay men where devastated by HIV and AIDS. People died before the disease was understood and many more died before a treatment could be devised. Stigma sprung up towards people who were +ve (this still exists in many places) and we cannot let things go backwards. It's important that we are vigilant.
For anyone who wants to know more about the impact this had on the LGBT community in the 80's have a read of "
Borrowed Time" by Paul Monette. Or to know what it's like to live with HIV now check out the amazing blog by
UKPositiveLad.
But before I finish, I'm sure there are many people who may read this and wonder why I seem like such a know it all. It's not my intention I assure you.
On the 18th November 1986 my Uncle Michael died of an AIDS related illness. I don't remember him, I was barely 3 when he died, but I've heard a lot of stories. Apparently we had some very vocal arguments when I was learning to talk.
Uncle Michael was a gay man but was never out to the family apart from my mum. I'm sure a lot of them knew, but from what I've been told it wasn't widely discussed. He was the second youngest of 11 children from a Catholic family and lived a complicated and troubled life. I don't know everything, his death is still something that has an impact on my aunts and uncles, but my mum has always been open about it. The end wasn't good for him and it's nothing something I'm going to repeat here, at least not in this post.
My uncle was 28 when he died; I've now lived a year longer than he was. We were and are both gay men, but had very different experiences.
I grew up with very supportive parents who accepted me when I came out. My uncle didn't have that and as a consequence was only out to my mum, the rest of his siblings were in disbelief that he was gay. I know that my mum always worried about me because of Michael and as a result educated me and my siblings on safe sex and the consequences.
My point: my uncle died of an AIDS related illness 26 years ago. But even now his death has an impact on the loved ones he left behind, including me, a nephew who sadly doesn't remember him. This is not isolated to our family.
Educate yourself and those around you. We can never be complacent when it comes to HIV and we can never allow things to go back to how they were in the 80's.
