Social Marginalization because of HIV status is real. And deadly. And wrong.
For far too many people, HIV can still be a terminal diagnosis. How can I say that, you ask? How can a highly-experienced HIV provider make such a claim that flies in the face of all of the amazing benefits of antiretrovirals? I say this with confidence and a broken heart because I have spent the last 15 years working to create loving, healing community for people marginalized by their HIV, homelessness, or both. I have cared for far too many people living in fear every day that someone will find out about their HIV diagnosis. People who can’t enjoy the freedom to live the full lives to which they are entitled. People crying, trembling in fear to be in an HIV clinic. People refusing to come to an HIV clinic for fear of being seen there. People overwhelmed by poverty, anti-blackness, and homophobia who also have to deal with the added burden of fear of disclosure of their HIV status. The cumulative burden of all of these life stressors ends up stealing both quality and quantity of life from far too many people.
I see a world where we all see each other. I see a world where everyone is valued because of who they are, not because of what they have or don’t have. I see a world where having HIV is normalized and accepted without judgement. I see a world where people living with HIV can cast aside the fears and anxieties that lead to shorter, sadder lives. This is my vision.
None of us can change all of the structural ills that debase and devalue individual lives and our communal life, as well. We also can’t stand by while people are suffering today and wait for the long arc of the moral universe to make things right.
We can and we must take steps now to embrace innovation in clinical care that empowers and improves the lives of our marginalized patients.