POZ & PROUD “My 10-year Journey Living with HIV, and the Transformative Effect of Artivism.’’ by Luis Noguera Benitez
the 80s and other HIV-related illnesses. Artivism has been my way of speaking for all of us. Promoting the message of U=U , Undetectable equals Untransmittable, to different types of people and audiences is always a comforting experience to me. I like the transformation of feelings into words, images and sounds. I love mixing languages in one poem, to make it sound more real, more me. Since I opened up about my status, I had the pleasure of meeting many Latin American friends who live with HIV but still haven’t had the chance to say it to anyone yet but felt the confidence to say it to me in a very humble way. This has been a full-circle moment for me, as I never thought I would make people feel that way by just telling my story. I’m honoured! In our Latin American countries, the HIV prevention campaigns are still informing people about the virus, how it is transmitted and how to prevent it. As in Europe, we are moving towards ZERO Transmissions, ZERO Discrimination and Letting our Communities Lead. This shows how much work has to be done, and how important it is to keep empowering our community with information, so they can demand their needs clearly. My journey with HIV has been a real life-changing experience. I have learned so much to love myself for who I am, and not for my life condition. I take a tablet every day which keeps me alive, but the invigorating passion for the arts has been my daily motivation. If you are living with HIV today, and haven’t said it to anyone, please remember that once you say it to one person, the world is not going to change, but your world will change for the better! So much love,
I couldn’t stop thinking that Juan’s story could have been mine if I had stayed. In 2016 the government stopped buying medication for HIV-positive people in Venezuela, and thanks to international organisations people were able to get their meds and continue their lives. Many lost theirs! Today the medication is available but scarce. That was the same year I met Ciaran Gildea, my husband, and to me, it is ironic to think I was disclosing my status to him, while people in my country were negotiating their right to live. We chatted and cried together in a soulful conversation. His support has been my pillar and motivation to advocate for people living with HIV. ARTIVISM It wasn’t until 2020 when I got to participate in the Poz Vibes Podcast and tell my story publicly that I realised how important and necessary spaces like this are for the community and for every single person to feel empowered and take control of their sexual life. Robbie and Veda are working relentlessly to end HIV stigma in Ireland, being the voices of so many people and showing the positivity of being POZ. They have inspired me so much in my journey as an artist and activist or how it is called Artivist. I started writing poems, incorporating words that for me would relate to HIV, adding nonsense, and sarcasm. They became images in my head that I started filming, then transformed them all into video poems to end HIV stigma. We celebrate our voices, our stories, history, upbringing, disclosure and life. Every time we can speak for our HIV-positive community, we speak for every single person who lives with HIV and is still in secrecy. We respect their existence and commemorate those who have passed during the AIDS crisis in
I was diagnosed HIV positive in October of 2013, two weeks before moving to Ireland for good. I was 26 and I remember that day well. I received the news at a lab in my city Maracay - Venezuela, on my own. The images of the trees outside the building are vivid in my mind. Everything was still. The wind stopped at the same time as my breath. I got the news and already started feeling disgusted about myself, and it took a lot of courage for me to say it to my closest friend Maholin Navarro, who immediately offered the most sincere and warm hug along with all the information I needed at that moment. Disclosing your status is always hard for many reasons. I didn’t want to hurt people. I didn’t want them to be ashamed of me, as I was of myself, and ultimately, I didn’t know how important it was to tell my story, so it would help others to be at peace within themselves and their new life condition. My family worried a lot when I said it to them. They cried but offered their unconditional support. DISCLOSING YOUR HIV STATUS IS THE FIRST STEP TO ENDING STIGMA! Receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis in Venezuela in 2013, was an unofficial death sentence, as the government wouldn’t invest in the antiretrovirals that keep us alive between 2016 and 2021. Most of the time, public hospitals are collapsed, and people have to bring their medical supplies to be looked after. From gauze to scalpels. On my latest visit to Venezuela in March of 2024, I met ‘Juan’. He kindly disclosed his AIDS status to me. A late diagnosis, and the lack of access to sexual education and sexual health checkups, put him in that position. We shared stories and laughs. ‘Juan’ lived in a rural area in La Guaira, for his condition, he suffered poverty, discrimination and segregation.
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...Promoting the message of U=U, Undetectable equals Untransmittable, to different types of people and audiences is always a comforting experience to me.
Luis!
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