So my inner circle would never outright shame folks living with HIV. Rather, their shame is more subtle and insidious. In an era filled with misinformation, alternative facts, and old-fashioned lies, peer-reviewed research is one of the few ways to get to the truth. Put simply, an HIV-positive person can suppress their HIV levels though taking antiretrovirals daily, maintaining an undetectable viral load. Like many queer men, I used to live in fear of acquiring HIV, even as a teenager, before I was having sex with men. I used to force my pediatrician to test me for HIV when I had unprotected oral sex with a woman.
Living with an HIV-Positive Partner? 8 Things You Should Know in Advance
Being with a Partner Who Has HIV
When people with HIV take effective treatment, the amount of HIV in their body fluids falls drastically, to the point where there is not enough HIV to pass on to someone else. The standard blood tests used in clinics can measure viral load down to 20 or 50 copies per millilitre of blood. If someone has an undetectable viral load , it does not mean they are cured of HIV. If they stop taking HIV treatment, their viral load will increase and become detectable again. But having an undetectable viral load does mean that there is not enough HIV in their body fluids to pass HIV on during sex. In other words, they are not infectious.
The HIV-Positive Person's Guide to Sex and Dating, Part One
I remember where I was. The doctor was a stern-faced woman with blonde hair and a golden cross dangling around her neck. I was living in Savannah, Georgia, and completing my last year of college.
It's a historic moment for HIV activism, and an opportunity to defeat stigma of those living with the virus once and for all. These men have been good to me. We waged war against a plague. Fauci, M. That, and people have been taught by right-wing scaremongering and the public politics of AIDS that HIV is something to fear and alleged breakthroughs should be distrusted.