People with HIV deserve protection too
Recently, a REACH lifetime survivor had an “aha moment” about what protection can really mean for someone living with HIV. “Leanna” knew from a young age that she was HIV-positive and as she entered her teen years, she deeply internalized the frequent advice from adults that she needed to take steps to protect those around her from contracting HIV.
“I knew we needed to prevent STDs and have safe sex, but at that time I didn’t think of it as much as protecting me. I always thought I was the problem, the ‘dirty person’ or the infected person; therefore, I was protecting others. I never thought about it as vice versa, like, ‘I need that protection too.’”
After graduating high school, Leanna began to reflect on her health and her self-worth and realized that she wanted to flip the script. “I was in my 20’s when I started thinking, ‘Wait a minute! I’m undetectable. I do everything I need to do to stay healthy. I have to see myself as this person that needs to be cared for in terms of practicing safe sex because I do everything already [to stay healthy].’ For the longest time when I thought of STD prevention and protection, it was never protecting me, it was protecting other people. And that wasn’t very fair to myself. It really took a while for me to develop that sense of awareness, ‘Why am I thinking that way?’ It was this weird shift in my mind, where I was like, wait a minute. I deserve this actually!”
With joy, Leanna described the burst of confidence and self-love that welled up inside her when she made the discovery that she deserves to be protected from any infection someone might bring her way, including a different strain of HIV! She deserves to ask tough questions to a future partner. She made a commitment to herself to request an STD test from any future partner and set up a boundary of monogamy.
After sharing this enlightenment with REACH staff, she suggested that we talk about this at an upcoming Lifetime Survivor group, which we did. The faces on the Zoom as Leanna described her new perspective on protection spoke louder than their words. It was like everyone sat up a little taller, realizing they deserved to be protected too. And as people whose virus is undetectable, they are no risk to others, but others could certainly be a risk to them.
Thank you, Leanna, for sharing your lifechanging realization with your friends in the group and with REACH staff. We love learning from you, and it makes a huge difference.
