I'm 53 today *faints*

Yes folks I've survived another year. The old war wounds provide a few aches and pains now and then, but never the less am still going.

Was surprised when I was diagnosed with HIV as I thought well that's it, I'll be dead in a few years. But then the doctor said you just take the pills and it "stops the virus". I had no idea, saying "really?"  It's surprising to this day the amount of ignorance there remains about HIV even in the gay community. This is my seventh year now with HIV.

Of course it hasn't been a walk in the park, and anyone who says it is would be lying. There's things like a hyperactive immune system that saw me have acute kidney failure from an allergic reaction. Even with perfect health there's mental health issues involved in having HIV. In a sense it's a double whammy of discrimination on occasion, being both gay and HIV+. Not so much in my case, but HIV can almost be a second coming out to people around you. 

It's not easy at times dealing with the stigma and stereotyping that can be a part of being positive. I don't know how many times I've sat on a bus next to a complete stranger and wondered what that stranger's reaction would be if I told them my status. Would they be sympathetic? Or would they move away in disgust? 

That's much of what this blog is all about. Addressing these issues, saying that gays and HIV aren't monsters. We're just people like everyone else. That one day we'll live in a world with the same opportunities and status as everyone else. Where being positive is no different than having diabetes. That being gay is no different than your hair colour.

When you're diagnosed with HIV one of the things you have to confront is your own mortality. I don't want to get to the end of my life, and as those immortal words of Pink Floyd go, "Thought I'd something more to say".