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World AIDS Day
Nov. 30th, 2007 09:51 pm
Tomorrow, December 1st is World AIDS Day. It's also my mum's birthday, so I probably won't get a chance to post tomorrow. But I want to share a story with you all.
Six or seven years ago, my life fell apart. I managed, financially, and moving back to Wales put a roof over my head, but emotionally I was a huge mess. That summer, I blew the last of my savings on a Reiki course, taught over a long weekend in a lovely seaside town I'd never visited before. It was on that course that I met someone.
He was a gay man, from London, and he and I had almost nothing in common except the course. We talked occasionally during the first two days, as strangers do. On the Saturday, after the class broke up, I wandered vaguely along the sea front trying to figure out where to eat, and he caught up with me and invited me to have dinner with him. If I hadn't known he was gay, emotional mess that I was, I would have said no. But we had dinner, and we discovered we had a few other things in common.
I don't remember exactly how the subject of AIDS came up. I know I'd read about Reiki being used to help AIDS patients in some US hospitals and we talked about that. And he told me, toward the end of the evening, that he was HIV positive.
I probably handled it really badly. I don't mean I pulled away from him or anything; I knew enough about HIV to know sharing a table with him wasn't going to put me in danger. But he was older than I by at least a decade and I was pretty much faking being emotionally stable that weekend. What I remember most is how accepting he was about it all. It wasn't that big a deal, or so he made it seem. He wasn't scared; it's a cliche, but it's true. We talked a little about what it was like to live with HIV. He told me all gay men live with it, in one way or the other. I guess in the scene he was part of, he was right.
When the course was over I meant to exchange addresses with him, suggest we keep in touch, but I didn't get an opportunity. I've never seen him since. He may not even be alive now, though with the advances in treatment over the past few years, I hope he's still healthy.
I thought I knew about HIV/AIDS, but he inspired me to really educate myself about the virus. Even now, I don't know as much as I feel I should, especially about HIV in Africa, but I know enough to be sure it's as serious a health issue as any we've ever faced. No matter who you are, no matter how low-risk you think your lifestyle is, HIV is likely to touch your life before you die. If not directly, then through someone you know. The public education campaign in the 1980's used the slogan "Don't die of ignorance". Most of us, especially the youngest of us, are more ignorant on the subject now than ever. It doesn't help that certain organisations intentionally spread misinformation.
The man I met six years ago changed my perspective in a very profound way. Some years later, I wrote my TS fic Wild Justice and included a gay couple living with HIV as, I suppose, a tribute to him. The AIDS part of the story is as close to reality as I could make it and still remain true to the fanfiction setting, even the killer is based loosely on a true-life case.
Words and stories are my tools. This story is the heart on my sleeve. It's not a bad story, and y'all can read it purely for the slash if you want to. But I hope one or two readers will recognise a deeper message in there.
But in some ways, I regret writing that fic. HIV/AIDS is no longer a "gay plague". Here in the UK, the virus is spreading faster through the heterosexual population than it is among gay men, and has been for several years. This is not an easy virus to catch, but it's everyone's responsibility to protect themselves. People living with HIV are still subject to discrimination. In the UK HIV is legally classed as a disability, and people are therefore protected, but discrimination still happens. Crusaid is dedicated to helping people forced into poverty because they are living with HIV.
Just take a moment, on World Aids Day, to think about it. Check out the video on the World AIDS Day website. Take a look at the charities - they'll probably be selling red ribbons in the high street - and give a little, if you can. If you're American, check out this link and consider writing to your local congressman about it. If you're British, check out this one and write to your MP. If you're neither, take a moment to look for a campaign in your own country.
http://www.crusaid.org.uk/
http://www.worldaidsday.org/
http://www.tht.org.uk/
Six or seven years ago, my life fell apart. I managed, financially, and moving back to Wales put a roof over my head, but emotionally I was a huge mess. That summer, I blew the last of my savings on a Reiki course, taught over a long weekend in a lovely seaside town I'd never visited before. It was on that course that I met someone.
He was a gay man, from London, and he and I had almost nothing in common except the course. We talked occasionally during the first two days, as strangers do. On the Saturday, after the class broke up, I wandered vaguely along the sea front trying to figure out where to eat, and he caught up with me and invited me to have dinner with him. If I hadn't known he was gay, emotional mess that I was, I would have said no. But we had dinner, and we discovered we had a few other things in common.
I don't remember exactly how the subject of AIDS came up. I know I'd read about Reiki being used to help AIDS patients in some US hospitals and we talked about that. And he told me, toward the end of the evening, that he was HIV positive.
I probably handled it really badly. I don't mean I pulled away from him or anything; I knew enough about HIV to know sharing a table with him wasn't going to put me in danger. But he was older than I by at least a decade and I was pretty much faking being emotionally stable that weekend. What I remember most is how accepting he was about it all. It wasn't that big a deal, or so he made it seem. He wasn't scared; it's a cliche, but it's true. We talked a little about what it was like to live with HIV. He told me all gay men live with it, in one way or the other. I guess in the scene he was part of, he was right.
When the course was over I meant to exchange addresses with him, suggest we keep in touch, but I didn't get an opportunity. I've never seen him since. He may not even be alive now, though with the advances in treatment over the past few years, I hope he's still healthy.
I thought I knew about HIV/AIDS, but he inspired me to really educate myself about the virus. Even now, I don't know as much as I feel I should, especially about HIV in Africa, but I know enough to be sure it's as serious a health issue as any we've ever faced. No matter who you are, no matter how low-risk you think your lifestyle is, HIV is likely to touch your life before you die. If not directly, then through someone you know. The public education campaign in the 1980's used the slogan "Don't die of ignorance". Most of us, especially the youngest of us, are more ignorant on the subject now than ever. It doesn't help that certain organisations intentionally spread misinformation.
The man I met six years ago changed my perspective in a very profound way. Some years later, I wrote my TS fic Wild Justice and included a gay couple living with HIV as, I suppose, a tribute to him. The AIDS part of the story is as close to reality as I could make it and still remain true to the fanfiction setting, even the killer is based loosely on a true-life case.
Words and stories are my tools. This story is the heart on my sleeve. It's not a bad story, and y'all can read it purely for the slash if you want to. But I hope one or two readers will recognise a deeper message in there.
But in some ways, I regret writing that fic. HIV/AIDS is no longer a "gay plague". Here in the UK, the virus is spreading faster through the heterosexual population than it is among gay men, and has been for several years. This is not an easy virus to catch, but it's everyone's responsibility to protect themselves. People living with HIV are still subject to discrimination. In the UK HIV is legally classed as a disability, and people are therefore protected, but discrimination still happens. Crusaid is dedicated to helping people forced into poverty because they are living with HIV.
Just take a moment, on World Aids Day, to think about it. Check out the video on the World AIDS Day website. Take a look at the charities - they'll probably be selling red ribbons in the high street - and give a little, if you can. If you're American, check out this link and consider writing to your local congressman about it. If you're British, check out this one and write to your MP. If you're neither, take a moment to look for a campaign in your own country.
http://www.crusaid.org.uk/
http://www.worldaidsday.org/
http://www.tht.org.uk/
