Sarah: HIV Won't Stop Me...or Will It?

I decided to break the norm of expressing your HIV status in public, although I am not actually HIV positive.  The negative stigma associated with HIV positive people is that they are dirty, sickly, and have overall poor health. To break this norm I wear a red shirt that states “HIV +” , it is from the Iowa HIV Alliance. Before I put on the shirt I thought that it wouldn’t be a challenge and I would wear it and people would ask why. 

After I actually put the shirt it was like a wave of self consciousness came over me.  I took a deep breath and set out to the pet store with my dog. When I got there I expected to get questions about my shirt but the usual staff didn’t say anything. There was a family there and I noticed the dad read my shirt but didn’t seem changed by it and his daughter petted my dog. 

My next stop, after taking my dog home, was the grocery store. As I was walking in some guy read my shirt out loud and started talking to his friend about but I kept walking, it was mortifying! I realized that nobody was going to talk to me but it was acceptable to talk about me behind my back, I felt like an outcast. Almost everyone in the store avoided eye contact with me and others just stared right through me. I went to self checkout I was done with people being so weird and unfriendly with me.  Expressing to the public that I was HIV + was just me acting normal wearing a shirt at first, by the end of the day I felt ostracized and was ready to hide from everyone. I took off my shirt and I was normal again it was a relief. It was really a bad experience but from it I have learned that people with HIV need to be treated like everyone else, with respect and dignity.