@thestigmaproject-blog / thestigmaproject-blog.tumblr.com
*CLEAN U B 2 - The 3D Wiggle Version*
Do you use the word “clean” to refer to an HIV-negative status? By doing so you immediately call anyone with HIV dirty. This type of language only further perpetuates stigma and keeps people from getting tested or onto treatment. Dirty is for laundry, not your HIV status. Wash what you say. Live HIV Neutral.
*CLEAN U B 2 - The 3D Wiggle Version*
Do you use the word "clean" to refer to an HIV-negative status? By doing so you immediately call anyone with HIV dirty. This type of language only further perpetuates stigma and keeps people from getting tested or onto treatment. Dirty is for laundry, not your HIV status. Wash what you say. Live HIV Neutral.
The story and strategy behind The Stigma Project. Recorded during the United States Conference on AIDS in September 2013. TSP Founders Chris Richey and Scott McPherson tell the story of how and why they formed the organization and how they ensure it's success in today's world. How the right combination of words and images, can move a generation to action and maybe even end HIV stigma.
thestigmaproject has teamed up with humanrightscampaign to create the #EqualChance campaign. An HIV & AIDS awareness campaign that celebrates love in the face of stigma and adversity. Because positive or negative, everyone deserves an #EqualChance at love.
Today is National HIV Testing Day! So no more excuses, no more procrastinating, no more "waiting for the right time." Stop by your local HIV testing center today, and if you can't find time for that, stop by the 24 hour pharmacy and purchase an Oraquick at-home testing kit. You need to know your status. So you can be healthy. And the only way for you to know, is to JUST DO IT. (Reblog this and encourage your network of friends to get tested for HIV!)
This month is about #pride. Being who you are and not being ashamed of it. To those who people, who's views about #HIV & #AIDS are stuck in the 80s, and are perpetuating hurtful stigma by putting a virus before a person. To those who fear getting tested and think avoiding it will solve the problem. To those who are positive and think they are less than because society has treated them as such. Our #summer campaign is for you. Whether you're positive or negative, when it comes to HIV, we challenge you to #ThinkDifferent — The Stigma Project
Hollywood has often played a role in opening minds and moving society forward, but its lack of modern and accurate portrayals of people living with HIV is a root cause of stigma and misconception.
Since HIV was discovered in 1984, a magical twister hasn’t blown us all away. No farmhouses have fallen onto ruby-soled witches. And no one has mastered the art of traveling by bubble. But in the realm of the HIV epidemic, we are certainly not in Kansas anymore. We've reached the colorful land of Oz. Long gone are the stormy days of gray and gloom. We've seen extraordinary advances in modern medicine that have allowed for those living with HIV to live full, healthy, and happy lives.
But in 2013, you wouldn't know this by looking through the Hollywood lens, where topics and stories have played a pivotal role in the progression of gay culture. As Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese once said, "Now more than ever we need to talk to each other, to listen to each other and understand how we see the world, and cinema is the best medium for doing this."
Hollywood has, since the invention of celluloid, played an important role in the advancement of our society and people's ways of thinking. Often films allow us to open our minds and learn new things we may not have once understood or felt comfortable with. They allow us to take that first step down the road of yellow brick. Successful films like Brokeback Mountain or Milk offered the everyday American, who may not have known someone who was gay, a chance to witness the life of an LGBT person and possibly gain a new level of comfort around the subject that would eventually lead to their support for marriage equality.
"Imagine all the people, living life in peace... "
In the US, an alarming 28% of transwomen are living with HIV. 73% of them don't even know it. HIV knows no race, class, background, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Everyone should get tested, and everyone—regardless of their status— should be up-to-date with the most current information on HIV. Knowledge is power. KNOW HIV = NO HIV. [CDC Fact Sheet; August 2011]
In the US, 1 in 4 of new #HIV infections occur in #youth ages 13-24. 60% of them don't know they're #positive! Do you know your status? #stats #infographic #design #numbers #gettested
34 U.S. states have laws criminalizing HIV. Many of which were written over 20 years ago and were created because of fear and lack of understanding. HIV is not what it was in 1993. It's time for state and federal laws to reflect the medical advances, discoveries, & current state of HIV. Share this with your friends and encourage them to support the Repeal HIV Discrimination Act!
Referring to a negative HIV status as "clean" is offensive and harmful. It implies that someone who is positive is dirty or unclean. It's also a very easy way to cause confusion around disclosing, because regardless of how you mean it, HIV+ people are still clean. Wash what you say! End the status war!
