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We know that for many, HIV isn’t a death sentence, and that with medications, HIV+ young people can remain active and healthy. Some of us were born with HIV and have made it to young adulthood alive and well. Still, living HIV positive comes with challenges – challenges that are compounded by myths and biases in our culture and by outmoded, medically groundless laws and policies, at home and overseas, that ignore HIV+ young people.

HIV Myths: When will we learn?

For two decades scientists have known the facts about how HIV is transmitted. You can’t get it from casual contact or from sharing a glass or utensils. You can only get it through blood, sexual contact, or from a mother to child during pregnancy or birth. Anyone can get it – it’s a result of behavior, not sexual orientation.

So why does the stigma around being HIV positive persist? Maybe it is because some people still don’t understand the disease. Maybe because some people still believe only gay men get it, and they are homophobic. Maybe it is simply an irrational fear. Whatever the reasons, the result is that HIV positive young people can experience discrimination.

HIV and the Law

But don’t think it’s just the public that has bought into the myths. Lawmakers believe them too – or at least that’s what it seems like.

• Through the “HIV travel ban” the Department of Health and Human Services prevents HIV+ people from entering the United States, even though there is no reason for this. 
• One state, Illinois, requires that students who are HIV positive disclose their status to their principal, even though again, there is no medical reason for this and it is a serious violation of students’ privacy.
• At home and in developing countries, abstinence-only programs completely ignore the needs of HIV positive youth. They censor information about condoms, a vital tool in protecting both HIV+ youth and their partner from HIV and STIs. They tell all youth that abstinence until marriage is the best protection – but for youth who are already HIV positive, marriage provides NO protection. This approach is especially dangerous in the countries served by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, where many more youth are HIV positive.

As long as there is no cure for HIV, it is a part of all of our lives. This generation doesn’t need to hang on to outmoded ideas that stigmatize HIV positive people – we’re smarter than that. And we’ll demand our schools, peers, and governments be smarter than that too.

Blog It!

Are you HIV positive, or do you know someone who is? Have you experienced or witnessed stigma or discrimination against HIV positive people? Why are so few characters on TV living with HIV? Write about living positive

Interested in this issue? Keep reading!

Read about related issues on Amplify

Abstinence-Only Programs
Discrimination
HIV
Human Rights and Social Justice

Report Card

How did your state do on its Report Card? Check out your state’s grades for sexual health, sex education, Title V Abstinence-only Funding, CBAE Community-Based Abstinence Education funding, and school safety for GLBTQ youth.

Health Facts: Living HIV Positive

Facts and resources for HIV positive young people

Other Resources

Need current, reliable information on this topic? Check out the links below for the latest research.

Who’s Positive – A site for HIV positive young people

Improving U.S. Global AIDS Policy for Young People: Assessing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [pdf] Serving HIV Positive Youth

Do you have a question about Topic? Ask one of Advocates’ MySistahs or YouthResource Peer Educators!