Stigma can take us [People Living with HIV/AIDS—PLWHA] down…
It can take our numbers down, have us looking bad, have us down in life, depressed in life…
If we let the stigma go, we can be happy. Just enjoy yourself and live.
I lost a couple of guys that I told I was HIV+. One guy said he still wanted to be with me, but he wouldn’t use condoms. I told him, “I’m not taking care of myself” but he didn’t even care.
There was a lot of stigma dealing with the relationship about that. I still felt like I couldn’t have a man sometimes and I would stigmatize myself and just be alone sometimes and think, “Why don’t I have a man?”
I didn’t want anyone to know I had the [HIV] medicine. [When you are homeless] you got to hide it from everybody.
When I was out there, I was out of care for two years. At that time, the medicine had to go in the refrigerator. Who got a refrigerator when you’re homeless?
In my house I always keep the blinds open but I feel like I am still over here in the dark sometimes. I am apart of the world and I can look out at it but I feel like I am still living in the dark sometimes.
Snap Out Stigma 