Why activist Raif Derrazi thinks his HIV diagnosis is a gift

The Switch is a video series sharing positive lifestyles and health routines to help you thrive while living with HIV. Listen to our guests living with HIV talk candidly about the positive switches they have made in their daily lives, including their approach to HIV treatment. Watch more episodes here.

It was Raif Derrazi’s 27th birthday in 2012. Sitting across from his doctor, Derrazi was in absolute shock when she looked him in the eyes and broke the unimaginable news — “You have HIV.”

At the time, the Plus Life Mediahost and bodybuilder had been in — what he thought was — a monogamous relationship for more than three years, when he became extremely sick and developed a sore in his throat that seemed to have no intention of healing.

“I shortly realized the person I was with wasn’t being faithful,” Derrazi told Plus in an exclusive interview last year. “At first I thought I’d be dead in a couple of years. Little did I know how much medicine had advanced.”

Derrazi began his treatment soon after, hoping the medication would suppress the virus and lead to a significant decrease in viral load. Luckily, the treatment was successful and he became undetectable and untransmittable (U=U).

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But when Derrazi considered dating again, a series of questions about whether to disclose his status arose: When does he disclose? Who does he disclose to? Does he put his status on dating apps? Does he put it in his bio? Does he tell them in person? Should he even tell them? Ultimately, Derazzi decided that he would tell someone about his status on the first date.

“Over time I decided that my disclosure was a filter,” the HIV activist reveals in the new episode of The Switch. “If someone can't look past that, even after I explain the implications of being undetectable and untransmittable, stigma and the advancements in care. Then I know that that person probably doesn't have the character traits of someone that I would respect in general outside of HIV in the immediate aftermath.”

Besides disclosure, Derrazi empowers himself through prioritizing his mental and physical health. To Derrazi, weightlifting is a way for him to regain control of his own life.

“I had a victim mindset throughout most of my life,” recalls Derrazi of his mental state before his diagnosis. “That's how I operated, and it led me to make a lot of decisions that were not in my best interest. What's a better manifestation of really taking charge of my life and saying that I am in control over HIV than being physically fit?”

To support other people living with HIV, Derrazi creates engaging and educational content sharing information about HIV on social media channels, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. Derrazi is grateful for the support from both the HIV and LGBTQ+ communities, as people regularly express gratitude and appreciation for his work. He is committed to continuing his advocacy in HIV awareness and LGBTQ+ rights.

“My diagnosis was a gift,” says Derrazi. “It was the catalyst for a profound change in my life, where I really started to become the person I knew I was the whole time and that I wanted to be.”