I was diagnosed with HIV back in 1998. I was maybe 21 at the time, I think. I believe it was a Walgreens store. There was an outreach program, and somebody there was conducting HIV tests. I believe I found it by just walking by, so I walked in and got tested. What...
I was really nervous to get tested. I’m not sure why. I guess there was a fear of finding out I contracted something. The unknown of what would happen next scared me. Who all would I have to tell? What does treatment look like? What if it was something that couldn’t...
I lost a relative to HIV. I was a child when it happened, so I do not really think I understood what HIV was. I knew that they were sick, and I do not think they were taking their meds. It was devastating for me losing a loved one as a child, especially when it felt...
When I was younger, I would not go get tested because of the anxiety associated with a positive diagnosis or positive result. But as I have grown older, especially in my sobriety, I realized that whatever you may have, there are medical treatments for it. The way to...
My biggest fear in life is that I wouldn't be loved. So, I put all my energy into acting to assume the role my perfect Jewish family wanted me to live. My name is Richard, but I honestly didn't know who Richard was. When I was 6 years old, I wondered if I was the only...
It was an instant high. I started using drugs because of the things I was facing. I was drinking, and somebody turned me onto crack. That's what got me started selling my body to get my money to get my drugs. I wasn’t using protection. It was 1999 when they let me...
I used to loathe the thought of taking a pill every day for the rest of my life, and I would hate taking my vitamins. I was hesitant only because my parents would tell me not to take medications growing up. It was only due to ignorance and stigma. They would tell me...
At 29, my life changed forever with three words: "You are positive." But that wasn't really where my story began. For years, I'd been living a double life dating women, but secretly meeting men, carrying the weight of my bisexuality like a shadow I couldn't shake....
I decided to get tested because a friend explained that it’s a part of my physical wellness. It wasn’t something I had ever put much thought into, I guess. I had been in a long-term relationship for the past five years, and...
I started using drugs at like 17 years old, in high school. My friends were doing it, and I wanted to be like them, I guess. It went from weed to pills and by the time I was 21 I was using heroin. I didn’t have that bad of an upbringing. My parents were divorced, and...