HIV Stops With Us

Much of my late teens and early 20s was spent marching with ACT UP, protesting homophobic politicians, throwing my body down during mock die-ins on busy city streets, and marching outside businesses who discriminated against people living with HIV. At the time, many of my friends were dying. The protest, my main form of activism at the time, was all I could do. Long before antiretrovirals were invented, AIDS brought constant death to our doorstep--and we wanted it to stop.

And it did. Today, HIV still exists, but far fewer people die and most newly diagnosed people will get on treatment, become undetectable, and never experience the dangers of the virus at all. That's thanks to newer and better meds, and the combination of getting people with HIV on treatment (treating their treatment as a way of preventing other transmissions) and getting those without HIV on to PrEP (right now, a one-a-day HIV prevention pill). What that means is that in my lifetime, we may actually see something I never imagined possible: the end of HIV.

Activists are still pushing for a total cure, a vaccine, longer-lasting forms of PrEP, and so much more, but really between the newer antiretrovirals, PrEP, and ongoing research, we're looking at the generation that may literally stop HIV in its tracks. And we're doing so by recognizing that all of us need to work together to stop HIV. Every person plays a role, none too small to note, and it's the people out there we want to celebrate.

The Advocate's new video series, HIV Stops With Me, is a five-part series that explores the unique individuals who are dedicating their time and talents to ending the HIV epidemic in their communities. My team spoke with influencers and grassroots advocates from across the country, exploring their different perspectives and often shared experiences as people who are leading this movement

From a disabled actor who once was told he'd never walk but instead did a documentary about learning to do so, to a reality TV star who stays true to her roots working with LGBT kids, everyone here has a story about how HIV impacts their world. Every story underscores what activists and researchers know--the importance of frequent testing, on immediate treatment, on becoming undetectable, of having safer sex. But it's the stuff we don't share that these folks do which makes their stories compelling. Over the next few months you'll meet I am Cait star Chandi Moore, who advocates on behalf of black trans women, perhaps the most endangered group in the U.S.; Latino activist and PreP program coordinator Raul Quintero; the Southern AIDS Coalition's tireless advocate and author Khafre Kujichagulia Abif; Mr. Leather Bear Dan Soto who was inspired by his brother's HIV diagnosis; and disabled actor and director Joseph Kibler, who was born with HIV but turned a grim diagnosis into a life of resilience (and roles on Criminal Minds and Chicago Med).

Every person has a story. These are just a few that are worth hearing more about.