HIV stigma interview

It was a bit strange seeing people on the telly this morning who're involved locally here with HIV. They had a 7 minute interview with two people about the recent report released into the issues surrounding the stigma involved with having HIV, on Channel Ten, including the CEO of Positive Life NSW.

I can't find a way to embed it here though, but you can watch it by following this link directly to it at the Channel Ten site:
http://tenbreakfast.com.au/video.htm?movideo_m=241144

Actually it ties in with where I'm going today, to the first of the "Resilience" workshops at BGF. I got a text reminder for it yesterday. It goes for 3 hours, bloody hell! Oh well I'm committed now. No but seriously, think this would be great. Here's the program again, today is the "introduction and program outline":

On the Channel Ten interview, they discussed the subject of resilience, and how HIV+ people generally gain skill over time to address the stigma that they face. Which looks pretty much what these workshops are about.

I also thought this thing from the interview was interesting:

That's terrible that 65% of people feel ashamed! A real tragedy. It's a disease, an illness, it's this stigma from society that would impose shame onto an illness. "HIV doesn't discriminate, people do" as the saying goes.

Myself I'm cautious as to who exactly I disclose too, but when I do I'm not at all ashamed of it. I was writing something in an email recently about this very subject. HIV is now a part of who I am; part of my identity as a person. Yes, HIV is a terrible disease to get, and I got it in my own case through unsafe sex (so what?), but I'm fucked if I'm going to be ashamed of who I am. I'm not ashamed of my sexuality, my depression, my post traumatic stress, my life. And I'm not ashamed of having HIV. If people have a problem with it then that's their fuckin dilemma, not mine. Haven't survived this far by caring about what other people thought.

At the end of the interview, the last question was asking if there was one thing that people could do to help HIV+ people and break down the stigma, what would it be. He had his own answer, and I considered that for a while. I decided in the end that my suggestion would be for everyone to know that HIV has a human face, that we're not monsters, and that life goes on for us now after diagnosis. And please don't attach any kind of moral judgement to HIV.