As part of GCN & HIV Ireland’s LIVING exhibition, we spoke to the faces behind the portraits – meet Will.
“When I moved from Venezuela here, I moved, I was really young, was like maybe twenty years old. Part of the reason I came was because I was HIV positive. I was actually a refugee. So my application was related to being gay and having HIV.
“At the time, twenty years ago, Venezuela was already starting to go really bad and the health system was failing. But even though that was my reason for coming here I kept this information very private and I was ashamed.
“And I want to be honest with myself about many things, not just HIV. So I made my, for example, my status visible on Grindr and stuff like this.
“I just want the people that, if they’re going to get with me, we are going to do this because they accept me. I don’t have to lie. I think people need to start at least by talking about it to fight the misinformation part.
“The medicine has advanced quite a lot. Our society has also advanced quite a lot, at least for the lucky ones in this part of the world, because it’s different if you are in other parts of the world.”
You can experience this unique portrayal of people LIVING with HIV in Ireland, until December 17 at CHQ Dublin and find out more in GCN’s December issue 369.
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