I wanted to add a little about the HIV Stops With Me campaign

There is lot to like about that US-based campaign (you can check it out here: http://www.hivstopswithme.org/about.aspx?t=EN&l=home) . It’s an interesting one too because it’s purpose, like ours, is to address stigma and also “to acknowledge the powerful role that people who are positive have in ending the epidemic.” So it features HIV positive men talking about their lives and their commitment to HIV prevention. Sound familiar? Gotta love that!

But I’m not sure that slogan sends quite the right message about that tricky subject, responsibility, a word, by the way which I’ll use, even though I’m wary that it’s loaded. Few would deny that we positive folks have an important role in stopping the spread of HIV. But so do negative guys. If there is responsibility, its shared, right? The implication that it’s the burden of the HIV positive guy alone to stop HIV - HIV Stops with Me - seems to discount the role of anyone else. And that doesn’t sit all that well with me.

It’s my experience that HIV positive and HIV negative guys often have a different slant on issues like this.

In any event, am I being too sensitive to the nuances of the English language? It’s easy to overanalyse . That slogan is undeniable punchy, makes you think and is potentially inspirational. It’s just that I wish they had been a little more inclusive - of everyone.

Thoughts anyone?

I’m no stranger to blogging. Over on LiveJournal, I‘ve been posting almost daily entries for over five years now. There, it’s an ongoing account of life in rural Ontario that sometimes touches on HIV and gay issues, sometimes not. And there’s the thing. I’ve always maintained that my life is not defined by my illness, that we are whole individuals, all of us, and that HIV is just a small part of our lives. Mine has been spent mostly in large cities, London England and Toronto in particular, but I chose to move to the country thirteen years ago. I have a partner, two dogs, a new house, lots of friends and more than a passing interest in photography to prove that life is in fact more than HIV.

But distancing myself from HIV is a bit of a conceit. Life for me in reality is a balancing act because, like it or not, it’s full of HIV-related stuff.. And I don’t mean pills, although I take enough of those. No, I spend huge chunks of my life talking about HIV, writing about HIV, attending meetings about HIV. And in my tiny rural community of 700 people, where everyone knows everybody else, and I’m out, I’m surely known as that photographer guy who has AIDS. (I’m merely positive, but I doubt whether country folks make – or even know – the distinction.)

But I’m fascinated by HIV, always have been since I was diagnosed. Never one to be well up on treatment issues – I leave that to my doctor – I’ve somehow become more and more involved in the intricacies of prevention, through the lens of an outsider, rather than as a professional. I’m well versed in poz prevention in particular. So this project was a natural. I want and need to react with others who have strong views, who are curious about what makes people tick in a very complex world.

And it is a complex world. I used to think that the HIV STOPS WITH ME campaign (www.hivstopswithme.org) was the pinnacle of poz folks’ involvement. Now I’m not so sure. I support the organization’s aims but question the message. I’d be curious to hear what other folks think our message, as people living with HIV, should be.