Positively Aware, The HIV News Journal published by the Test Positive Aware Network

I just got my latest copy of your magazine and wanted to write and let you know that it helps.
I am a 36-year-old, mostly gay man locked up on a four-year term in Chino, California. I was diagnosed positive in 2006 and have had to make a lot of decisions about life without any up-to-date information.

I find myself trying to advocate to the very people who are the hardest to reach because, in a very real way, they too live with HIV on a daily basis.

I am very out and very loud about the fact that I am positive. It’s weird, though—all people want to know is why or when or how I got it, and the way I see it, those things pale in comparison to the fact that I’m positive and what choices I make now. People who don’t know better freak out about having social contact with me and it gets really hard.

—Jeremy Riley
Chino, CA

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I’m a 29-year-old man who’s been living with HIV for about 12 years. I’ve been in prison for the past 10 years and, on several occasions, have run across issues of your magazine.

I really enjoy reading about the new meds out there and how people are able to deal with this monster of a virus that we fight every day. In 1999, I started treatment with Ziagen and Combivir, but due to an allergic reaction, was put on Reyataz,

Epivir, and Viread. After about a year, lots of bilirubin built up in my liver and my eyes and skin turned yellow. I then took a three-year “vacation” before starting Atripla. Wow! It’s amazing—I’ve been on the treatment for almost four years now and I haven’t had any problems yet!

Thanks for providing information and support and giving me faith in this fight. It’s a daily struggle dealing with the depression, stress, and fear, but I know I can make it —I only have four years left.

—Matthew G.
Buford, GA

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I’d like to order a copy of the 2010 Nov.+Dec. edition. My photo was one selected for that first “A Day with HIV in America” spread. Look for my Miss Noon in Miss America stance with official wave on a red carpet. I’ve since subscribed to Positively Aware, but could not get my hands on a hard copy of the 2010 edition.

I’m happy to see my rear end at 9:37 a.m. in 3-D on the Internet slide show [www.adaywithhiv.com]. I got a $1,000 hormone shot on the official ADWHIA shoot day—Lupron—for prostate cancer treatment. Then three gold markers were inserted inside my prostate for radiation treatments to find the walnut during radiation zaps for 8 weeks, 5 days a week. Testosterone range is 7.2 - 24.0. Guess my count—0.2! Can’t stop singing “I’m EVERY Woman!”

—Mark A. Davis
Philidelphia, PA

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engaging photo essay project created by Positively Aware. The idea behind the project was to broaden the way people understand what it means to live with HIV today and to combat the overwhelming stigma associated with the disease. The result was an exciting photo collage of the experiences of various people with HIV in this country.

Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo was one of the judges charged with the considerable undertaking of narrowing down the submitted photos. Mr. Panozzo, a co-founder of the legendary rock band, is also openly gay and HIV-positive. He’s extremely proud to be out and open about who he is and feels he has “a responsibility to send a message to the audience.” He added, “How can we expect others to respect us if we can’t respect ourselves?”

This photo project is an excellent instrument to help people gain more respect for themselves and their communities, and the outspoken Panozzo was a perfect fit for it. There are still very few artists and entertainers who are out about their HIV status, so Panozzo stands out as someone bold enough to speak about what it means to have HIV today. One of his goals is to educate people about what it’s like to live with this disease and he says, “Being out and being open is the best form of education.”

It’s refreshing to encounter a performer who isn’t shy about expressing an opinion or speaking candidly about his life experience. Panozzo’s life experience of living with HIV for over 20 years and still touring demonstrates how dramatically the world of HIV has shifted and that people who have AIDS can now flourish.

If there were a theme for the Day with HIV in America project, it would be something like “thriving.” Of course, people still endure the challenge of living with HIV in America, and economic disparities and social injustice make HIV a profound struggle. We have a ways to go, but our community has never been stronger and better prepared to meet these challenges.

Today, HIV is a story of having survived the worst to now have the opportunity to thrive. When I look at the various photos in the project and when I think of Chuck Panozzo, I see a community that is thriving and working hard to fight stigma, organizing to protect the rights of people with HIV, and establishing a culture for people whose days in America are impacted by HIV but no longer destroyed by it.

—from a blog post by Alex Garner
Editor-at-Large
FrontiersLA.com

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