For me, stigma represents rejection. It is especially frustrating that a community (the gay community at large) that was so adversely affected by HIV in North America are the ones most likely to be guilty of discrimination, discomfort and rejection. This lack of knowledge and education is especially visible on dating sites where those who are negative refer to themselves as "clean" or disease-free. Furthermore, there is a false effort among people to pretend to be supportive and empathetic while judging your diagnosis and viewing you in a negative light. Sure, they like to have fundraisers and feign compassion but people seldom create safe places for acceptance or access to friendships beyond the superficial. Stigma means that most of us, especially those who live in rural or conservative communities are not allowed to live authentically for fear of reprisal, rejection, loss of income, loss of family, loss of home, etc. Stigma represents the additional disenfranchising, polarization and isolation of a fringe population who deserve much, much love, compassion, understanding and support.

Stigma to me means that everyone is afraid to touch us.. be around us for fear of catching this disease from us.. or the false thought that we are going to pass away at any time from being HIV+.. but in reality it’s just people’s ignorance in knowing the true facts of how this
disease is spread and how it affects every person..I don’t believe that the stigma will ever disappear because people believe that we are dirty and it’s our fault..which is not entirely true in some cases.. then their is the idiotic belief that it is Gods plan for the wicked.. either way the stigma will always be there no matter what we do to try and educate the misinformed..

There will always be stigma from having HIV/AIDS. The general population feels that they are immune to this virus and therefore choose to ignore it until it hits close to home. For the most part, people are ignorant to what they perceive as not pertaining to them. We have a long ways to go in convincing people that HIV/AIDS is not just a gay person disease.

There is always a stigma when someone finds out that you are HIV+. For many years I tried to educate people on HIV, but over the years that has stopped also. There are so many people that don't understand it and don't really want to learn about it, to understand it. So I feel stigma will always be there. I still feel in my own relationship with a Neg partner, he has a stigma with HIV, even though he claims there is not. If I ended up in another relationship, I would prefer it to be an HIV+ partner.

Stigma means rejection. 20 years ago, with the support of my social worker, I disclosed my hiv status to my elder sister. Her reaction was horrendous. That time she was living with me and my daughter. She started cooking her own meals doing her laundry separately and worst of all using the toilet standing not to sit on the same toilet sit.....urine on the floor. Worst of all was change of her tenses when referring to me. She will always start a conversation with friends..when Lucy dies she couldn't bring to tell them I was hiv positive. I had a very close platonic relationship with a friend from our home country. My sister was not happy seeing me with friends. She called the family of my friend to warn them of my imminent death and I was going to infect their brother. But this family reacted differently. They were so upset with the appalling behaviour of my sibling. They are today so supportive. My sister even tried to write me off from my late father's estate. This has made me scared to mention to people close to me that I am hiv positive. I had my daughter while I was positive but she is negative. I kept on postponing disclosing to her. I did have courage the other day. Ready for rejection. But surprisingly, she said she knew ten years ago. She Had seen my hospital letter but at the time she did not know what it meant. She brushed it off and said "I have researched everything I need to know. Mum I am not worried as long as you take your medication". So you don't know who is ignorant enough to stigmatise your status. All I can say, to me stigma is real and there is ongoing ignorance todate. HIV should be viewed just like any other virus. With a child's mind-set