Tuesday, 16th December 2014
After the research I did about world AIDS day for my previous blog I felt a little hollow. I knew the facts and figures but I had very little that was tangible. Statistics have no humanity to them and I still felt distant and uneducated.
To get a bit more in touch, I went along to the Red Ribbon Remembrance evening held by Trade earlier this month and it was when I listened to one of the testimonials of someone living with HIV that something clicked into place inside me.
The speaker shared about having to 'come out' a second time and of having a new identity now. A new identity that makes him part of a new community of people. He spoke of something that is seen as a bad thing, but for him has had far more silver lining than cloud and has given him lots of new opportunities. As I took in what he was saying I realised that whilst he was talking about living with being HIV positive, he could have been talking about being trans! Of course, our stories are individual and unique but there are more similarities than differences between us - especially when it comes to having to tell new sexual partners something important before they get into your pants!
Meeting this person and hearing his and the other testimonials I realised that what I'd been missing was the human element when trying to learn about the impact of HIV. We all have stories to share and unique aspects to our life. Living with HIV, just like being trans, doesn't just happen to distant people that you don't care about - it could touch anybody’s life.
I also learnt a lesson about being the person wanting to know more about a subject. I'm often on the receiving end of lots of (sometimes impertinent) questions about being trans and there are many times when I've thought "just Google it if you're curious!" but I now know that the internet can only take you so far.
Sometimes a conversation is all it takes to become not just more educated but also more understanding.
Stay safe.
Written by Jack Davis
