By Jeff Berry Dear Jeff, It’s 1989, you’re 30 years old, and you are about to hear the most terrifying words you’ll ever hear in your entire life: You are HIV positive. Your world will come crashing down around you, and you’ll feel alone and full of shame. I want you to know that you’re

By Toraje Heyward How I contracted HIV is none of your damn business. I’m going to tell you what happened, but not because I owe you an explanation. Here goes. My friend with benefits at the time casually suggested that he should get tested because he knew that he “messed around with several different people.”

| Sure most HIV advocates have heard of U=U, but how do we get the rest of the world to listen? By Desiree Guerrero For about the past decade, activists and advocates have been working hard to educate the world on a very important scientific fact about living with HIV: that undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U).

| The Office of HIV and AIDS Malignancy at the National Cancer Institute coordinates cancer and HIV research. By Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr. Robert Yarchoan, MD, is the director of the Office of HIV and AIDS Malignancy (OHAM) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In addition, he is a researcher at the NCI Center for

By Theo Smart When the dashing and magnificently bearded Dr. Giovanni Guaraldi took to the stage at last fall’s HIV and Aging conference in New York City, and described a nearly 100-year-old person living with HIV, I was more than a bit skeptical. Not of the researcher—he’s done some of the most brilliant research on

| How drag queens are becoming the heroes of HIV prevention By Desiree Guerrero My love affair with drag queens goes way back. Since my childhood in the suburbs of East L.A. (an area noticeably lacking in glitz and glamour), I have been fascinated with these magical creatures. My first glimpses of queens were on

|That Has to Change By Tyunique Nelson As a young person who identifies as nonbinary, meaning I do not identify within the gender binary, accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was a challenging quest. PrEP is a once-daily pill regimen that supports people in remaining HIV negative. Although I have been an organizer and advocate in support

By Michael Lamb The day the universe decided it wanted to see sugar, spice and everything nice, it was June 10, 1991 – the day I was born. Even as a child, I was always talkative and quite the jokester. Winning “Loudest,” “Class Clown,” and “Most Likely to Work for The New York Times” my

It’s been another tumultuous year, but at least in 2018 we started talking about HIV again By Desirée Guerrero Let’s face it, it’s been a rough one. More senseless shootings, more #MeToo controversies, more attacks on trans and immigrant rights – and more budget cuts affecting those living with HIV. As 2018 drew to a close,

| Why people living and aging with HIV will lead the way By Jeff Berry Long-term survivors of HIV face unique challenges – they are the “hidden” survivors of the epidemic. When I was diagnosed with HIV in 1989, I wasn’t sure I’d be here in 2018 to talk about it. At the time there