Plus 144 September October 2021 digital

THE LATINX ISSUE LA REVISTA LATINX

BECAUSE YOU’RE MORE THAN YOUR STATUS

REPRESENTATIVE

ROGER MONTOYA THIS POZ NEW MEXICO LAWMAKER IS A LOCAL HERO, A PAINTER, AND THE ONLY POLITICIAN TO HAVE EVER APPEARED IN BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO ESTE REPRESENTANTE POZ DE NUEVO MÉXICO ES UN HÉROE LOCAL, UN PINTOR Y EL ÚNICO POLÍTICO QUE HA APARECIDO EN BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

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ON THE COVER 24 REPPIN' FOR THE PEOPLE Artist, dancer, and humanitarian Roger Montoya has survived bullying, the AIDS epidemic, stigma, depression, and scandal with dignity and grace. Now, he is New Mexico's first out gay state representative living with HIV and is focused on helping those who need it most.

ON THE COVER & ABOVE New Mexico state representative Roger Montoya photographed by Curtis Brown @curtisbrownphotography

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FEATURES

16 FUTURE OF CHANGE Meet the scholars who are working hard to end HIV. 20 OUR AMIGO The star of a new Spanish HIV med ad on the importance of Latinx inclusion.

38 EARTH ANGELS These Latinas are risking it all to help others in need.

BUZZWORTHY

10 WALKING ON WATERS A new documentary celebrates the activism and genius of dance legend Bill T. Jones.

12 LEGACY OF LOVE Ailey pays homage to the late, great choreographer.

13 DIFFERENT TIMES These docs tell very different tales about the fight against HIV. 14

DABOO-BOO Rapper DaBaby is in hot water after making offensive remarks about HIV.

15 PRAIRIE STATE PROGRESS Illinois decriminalizes HIV.

DAILY DOSE

6 OUT AND ABOUT Coming out poz or LGBTQ+ can be hard, but can change your life.

TREATMENT

40 THIS JUST IN The latest info on how COVID-19 affects those living with HIV. 42 COVID COCKTAIL? Can a new antibody cocktail help protect poz people?

43 PREP FOR ALL PrEP is now free for just about anyone who needs it.

WELLNESS

44 LOCKED IN LOCKDOWN Some tips on how to ease back into life after lockdown.

UNDETECTABLE

46 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO U The U=U movement celebrates five years of smashing stigma.

PARTING SHOT

48 BANKING ON BROCK HIV isn't holding this adult film star from living his best life.

COU RTESY C AN YOU B RING IT ( 1 0); COU RTESY LUCIANO REB ERTE (20); SH UT TERSTOCK (4 6)

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chief executive officer & editorial director DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL

evp, group publisher & corporate sales JOE VALENTINO

editor in chief NEAL BROVERMAN

vp, brand partnerships & associate publisher STUART BROCKINGTON

EDITORIAL managing editor DESIRÉE GUERRERO editors at large TYLER CURRY, ALEX COOPER senior copy editor TRUDY RING associate editor DONALD PADGETT contributing editors KHAFRE ABIF, MARK S. KING mental health editor GARY MCCLAIN staff writer MEY RUDE contributing writers JOHN CASEY, ANDRE JACKSON, MATTHEW HAYS, ASHLEY INNES, JIM PICKETT ART executive creative director RAINE BASCOS art director BEN WARD editor at large digital art CHRISTOPHER HARRITY PRINT PRODUCTION production director JOHN LEWIS production editor JACOB ANDERSON-MINSHALL PRIDE MEDIA EDITORIAL editor in chief, the advocate TRACY E. GILCHRIST digital editor in chief, advocate.com NEAL BROVERMAN editor at large, the advocate JOHN CASEY editor in chief, out DANIEL REYNOLDS digital director, out.com RAFFY ERMAC editor in chief, out traveler JACOB ANDERSON-MINSHALL digital director, pride TAYLOR HENDERSON director of podcasts & special projects JEFFREY MASTERS ADVERTISING & BRAND PARTNERSHIPS senior director, ad operations STEWART NACHT manager, ad operations TIFFANY KESDEN managing director, brand partnerships JAMIE TREDWELL creative director, brand partnerships MICHAEL LOMBARDO senior manager, brand partnerships TIM SNOW manager, advertising & brand partnerships DEAN FRYN coordinator, brand partnerships MYA MIRARI junior manager, advertising & brand partnerships REEMA THARANI DIGITAL vp, technology & development ERIC BUI digital media manager LAURA VILLELA director of social media & audience engagement MIKELLE STREET social media manager CHRISTINE LINNELL social media editor JAVY RODRIGUEZ CIRCULATION director of circulation ARGUS GALINDO FINANCE/ACCOUNTING vp, finance BETSY SKIDMORE accounts receivable controller LORELIE YU accounting manager PAULETTE KADIMYAN OPERATIONS director of human resources DRU FORBES chief of staff DUSTINA HAASE-LANIER ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTIONS Phone (212) 242-8100 • Advertising Fax (212) 242-8338 Subscriptions Fax (212) 242-8338 EDITORIAL Phone (310) 806-4288 • Fax (310) 806-4268 • Email editor@HIVPlusMag.com FREE BULK SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR YOUR OFFICE OR GROUP Any organization, community-based group, pharmacy, physicians’ office, support group, or other agency can request bulk copies for free distribution at your office, meeting, or facility. To subscribe, visit HIVPlusMag.com/signup There is a 10-copy minimum.

FREE DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS Plus magazine is available free to individual subscribers — a digital copy of each issue can be delivered to the privacy of your computer or reader six times per year. We require only your email address to initiate delivery. You may also share your digital copies with friends.

To subscribe, visit HIVPlusMag.com/signup NEED SUBSCRIPTION HELP? If you have any questions or problems with your bulk or individual magazine delivery, please email our circulation department at Argus.Galindo@pridemedia.com Plus (ISSN 1522-3086) is published bimonthly by Pride Publishing Inc. Plus is a registered trademark of Pride Publishing Inc. Entire contents ©2021 by Pride Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

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EDITOR’S LETTER

BY N E AL B ROVE R MAN

FO R SO M E , E S P E CIA LLY those not living with HIV or working in the public health sphere, the recent statements from rapper DaBaby (page 14) may have been shocking. But for the rest of us, the outdated ignorance and gross intolerance he displayed — DaBaby said people with HIV were “nasty” and die within weeks of infection — was all too familiar.

Forty years after the media began reporting on what scientists later identified as HIV, misinformation on the disease persists. Following DaBaby’s comments, HIV organizations and celebrities quickly stepped in to set the record straight.

In a series of tweets, Elton John deftly laid out the facts about Undetectable Equals Untransmittable, or U=U, a science-backed movement that just celebrated its fifth year (page 46). Too many people — like DaBaby, apparently — are unaware that those living with HIV who adhere to their treatment regimen with low viral loads cannot transmit the virus. As U=U moves forward, the activists behind it want to ensure that all doctors, nurses, clinicians, and sex educators instill the lessons of U=U to everyone they serve.

Not only will widespread knowledge of U=U help reduce HIV transmissions, it will chip away at the stigma that still exists. DaBaby’s words may have been unsurprising for those living with HIV, but we can be sure they still stung.

Our cover subject, New Mexico legislator Roger Montoya (page 24), has encountered judgment and scorn from his earliest days; for being effeminate, gay, Latinx, HIVpositive, and a former adult performer. Always courageous and never happy to sit still, Montoya persevered and had the last laugh, elected last year as the first gay man living with HIV as state representative in New Mexico history.

Managing editor Desirée Guerrero and I were so excited to put Montoya on the cover, specifically because he’s living proof that marginalized people can succeed and thrive — in short, he’s a great role model and the perfect cover for our annual Latinx issue, which coincides with National Latino AIDS Awareness Day on October 15.

In addition to Montoya, we profile Luciano Reberte (page 20), the star of the first Spanish-language ad for HIV medication (Dovato). Reberte, an HIV activist, helped craft the commercial himself, incorporating his story and Latinx customs into the narrative. Also, don’t miss our story on promotoras, Latinas braving COVID exposure to distribute information on vaccines and government aid. The promotoras have been spreading the truth about HIV and other diseases for years. All three of these stories — Montoya, Reberte, and promotoras — have been translated to Spanish as well for our Spanish-speaking readers.

There really is no shortage of heroes in this issue, including the new crop of HIV League scholars (page 16).

These students were honored for their achievements by the nation’s only scholarship fund directed to those living with HIV. We can only hope when these folks are running the world, they operate in a society where attitudes like DaBaby’s are history.

LU KE FONTANA

Be well,

NEAL BROVERMAN EDITOR IN CHIEF

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D A I LY D O S E

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BY ASHLE Y INNES

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COMING OUT WILL ALWAYS MATTER

SH UT TERSTOCK(ILLUSTR ATION); COU RTESY ASH LE Y IN N ES (AUTHOR)

BUSTING OPEN THAT CLOSET DOOR CHANGES THE WORLD AND YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION. T H I S M O N T H W E celebrate National Coming Out Day. It was created in 1988 by Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary as a means of celebrating being queer. During a time when HIV was devastating the community and knowing an LGBTQ+ person felt very distant for most people, this was an important step towards acceptance and self-empowerment.

For me, this day puts emphasis on what I believe to be the most basic form of activism.

Being yourself.

Harvey Milk said, “Coming out is the most political thing you can do.”

Our existence as LGBTQ+ people is an act of resistance. Mainstream society was not designed for queer people to thrive. In fact, it was designed to actively oppress us. So, coming out and living your life authentically is a form of activism. It says we aren’t going to let homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia fester in silence and ignorance. You will see us living our lives just like everybody else. And in doing that it helps diminish harmful ideas and actions towards LGBTQ+ people. It stops making queer identity a political issue or idea and puts people at the forefront.

And most importantly, it creates a community and inspires and empowers others to live openly and freely. Coming out matters. It mattered in 1988 and it matters now. I say that because there are some that say queer people coming out isn’t a big deal anymore. Things have improved, but we still live in a world where people have inaccurate and dangerous views about LGBTQ+ people. In particular, the most vulnerable communities, such as BIPOC, trans, and gender-nonconforming folks, and those living with HIV. We’ve seen recent comments from folks like DaBaby full of homophobia, stigma, and misinformation about HIV (see page 14).

These are acts of violence and perpetuate the toxic masculinity that directly harms so many in the queer community.

It’s society’s oppressive systems, behaviors, and ideas of what is acceptable that have kept so many from coming out and being their full authentic selves. For example, while bisexual people make up 50 percent of the LGBTQ+

community, a recent study shows that bisexual women with straight male partners are least likely to be out.

As someone who is out and has a male partner this makes total sense to me. We live in a world that consistently affirms the heteronormative structure. To be straddling that line can create additional anxiety and fear of rejection from straight and queer folks.

A rejection that has been played out time and time again.

Knowing that people are still challenged with coming out shows exactly why it still matters. It’s a complicated issue and may not always be safe for everyone. It is a bold act that requires a level of psychological and physical safety. Even the most comfortable and confident people aren’t always out to everyone in their life, and that’s okay.

This is also true when it comes to living with HIV. I’m hard pressed to find any other medical condition that society has stigmatized in the way they have HIV. Coming out as HIVpositive is just as significant as coming out as queer, and for some even more so. People living with HIV sharing their stories and living healthy and full lives is another act of resistance. They owe us nothing, yet give us so much, and I am grateful always.

Hopefully in time we can create a world where everyone feels safe coming out. But if you are queer and reading this, whether you are out or not, you are a part of this community and welcome here. It is also vital for you to know that your existence matters and being you has the power to change those around you, and your own perception of yourself.

Audre Lorde said, “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”

I dare you to be powerful and use your strength. When you are ready, face your fears. There is relief on the other side. Come out as gay and lesbian. Come out as bi and pansexual. Come out as transgender and nonbinary. Come out as queer. Come out as you. Love to you all.

ASHLEY INNES is a writer and HIV advocate. Follow her on Twitter @Ash_Innes.

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THE DANCER AND THE DANCE ONE OF THE GREATEST ARTISTIC RESPONSES TO THE AIDS CRISIS, BILL T. JONES’S D-MAN IN THE WATERS, IS REEXAMINED IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY.

Bill T. Jones in D-Man in the Waters

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ABOVE: Bill T. Jones in rehearsal with students. RIGHT: The documentary’s directors Roz LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz

COU RTESY C AN YOU B RING IT

I N 1 9 8 9 , T H E Bill T. Jones/Arnie

Zane Company premiered what became known as its greatest dance piece, D-Man in the Waters, created against a background of loss. Zane, Jones’s partner in life and work, had died of AIDS complications the previous year, and a member of the company, Demian “D-Man” Acquavella, was suffering from the disease, which would take his life in 1990. The number, set to Felix Mendelssohn’s octet for strings, was unveiled at the Joyce Theater in New York City to widespread acclaim and is considered one of the signature responses to the AIDS crisis.

Now a new documentary, Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters, tells the story of the dance’s creation and re-creation, and how it can still speak powerfully about social issues in general.

“I became a dancer because I saw D-Man in the Waters when I was 16 years old,” Can You Bring It producer and co-director Rosalynde LeBlanc

says in the film. She subsequently joined Jones’s company and later became a dance educator.

The film from LeBlanc and codirector Tom Hurwitz, also its cinematographer, shows LeBlanc, with input from Jones, putting together a production of the number at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2016, along with archival footage of the piece’s development and interviews with Jones, the dancers who performed it originally, and others. Jones, a much-honored choreographer who is now the artistic director of New York Live Arts, is a gay Black man and long-term HIV survivor.

LeBlanc decided to make Can You Bring It because “the absence of AIDS from current political and social discourse in this country has left successive generations without any way to contextualize the spirit and intensity of the art made in response to it,” she says in press notes for the film. She brought on Hurwitz to shoot it in cinéma vérité style.

Can You Bring It makes the point that while D-Man in the Waters was a response to the AIDS crisis at its height, the beautiful, abstract dance can serve as a commentary on any number of challenges facing society.

She and Jones asked the Loyola Marymount students to come up with what gives the number meaning for them, to “bring it.” What emerges is a compelling view of art in the making, along with a study of loss and survival.

“Roz and Tom succeeded in telescoping the story of D-Man in the Waters into the future,” Jones says in the press notes. “I look forward to the journey of this film.

Because this film should not let people forget — you’re lucky in your life if you have one moment where you’re at once strong enough, brave enough, and resourceful enough to throw down and make something like D-Man in the Waters come into being. This work is not about anybody’s epidemic. It is about the dark spirit of what is happening in the world and how you push back against it.”

For more information about the film and where to see it, visit D-ManDocumentary.com.

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REVISITING GENIUS

THE LATE, GREAT DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPHER ALVIN AILEY — FELLED BY AIDS COMPLICATIONS IN 1989 — IS GIVEN HIS DUE.

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this time period to approximate the type of experience Ailey had.

In the 1950s he moved to New York City to pursue his dance career and he founded his company there in 1958. In 1960 came the premiere of Revelations, a set of dances performed to Black religious music, often considered Ailey’s masterpiece. But he would create many more pieces, and his company also performed dances by other choreographers.

Ailey was a deeply private and sometimes troubled man, totally dedicated to his art, Wignot says. “It’s important to think about the sacrifices he had to make to build this enterprise. … There’s a kind of giving over of himself entirely,” she says. But his work also reflected beauty and joy, she adds, and he cleared a path for other Black artists.

He was out as a gay man to his friends and his colleagues in the dance world but was closeted publicly. He died of AIDS-related complications at age 58, but his obituaries cited a rare blood disorder as the cause of death.

“It’s devastating to think about when he died and all the possibilities that would have been open to him had he lived even 10 years more,” Wignot says. (NeonRated.com).—T R

American dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931 - 1989) poses for a portrait in his office at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Center in New York, New York on May 6, 1986

JACK VARTOOG IAN/G E T T Y IMAG ES

The first time Jamila Wignot saw a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, she was overwhelmed by the beauty of the dances.

Now, with a documentary she’s directed, she hopes to introduce others to the beauty of the company’s work and of its founder.

Her film, titled simply Ailey, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and opened in theaters this summer. It provides an immersive portrait of Alvin Ailey, a gay Black man who knew poverty, racism, and homophobia but also drew on his rich culture to become one of the 20th century’s most important choreographers.

He died in 1989, but his company has endured and continues to commission new work; Wignot’s film intersperses Ailey’s biography with footage of dancers rehearsing a new piece for the group’s 60th anniversary in 2018.

When Wignot first encountered the dance group’s work in college, the program concluded with Revelations, one of Ailey’s most acclaimed pieces, and it made a great impression on her.

Years later, having built a résumé that includes directing two episodes of the PBS series The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, she was approached by Insignia Films about helming a documentary on Ailey.

“I was familiar with the dances and the company — I wasn’t familiar with Mr. Ailey’s biography,” she tells Plus. Wignot was soon to become intimately familiar with his life.

The film draws on archival footage, interviews with company dancers, friends, and, importantly, audio recordings he made while preparing an autobiography with collaborator A. Peter Bailey.

Wignot says this was key in telling his story since there’s no filter in the form of an interviewer, and Ailey’s “poetic energy” is palpable on the tapes.

Ailey was born in a small town in Texas in 1931, deep in the Jim Crow era of segregation and oppression of Black Americans. When he was just 4, he and his mother moved to Los Angeles; his father was mostly absent from his life. Ailey and his mother still knew struggle, but their lives were enhanced by a culture that offered a wealth of love and caring, and recognized the value of music and community celebrations.

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HIV GOES HOLLYWOOD on the HIV experience — one exploring a tennis legend, the other chronicling a Hollywood executive hunting for a cure — will soon be released to audiences.

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LEON B EN N E T T/G E T T Y IMAG ES (SPENCER); COU RTESY T WIT TER (DRE W ); B E T TMAN N/G E T T Y IMAG ES (ASH E )

BY N E A L B R OV E R M A N

Right to Tr y , a d o cum e nta r y sh or t co-produced by Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer (The Help, The Shape of Water), is expected to be released first, with plans to premiere December 1, the 40th anniversary of World AIDS Day. The Late Late Show With James Corden’s producer Zeberiah Newman directed the already-filmed doc, which explores casting director Jeffrey Drew’s involvement in a clinical trial for an HIV cure.

Andrew Carlberg, the producer of the Oscar-winning short Skin, is also on board.

Drew has been living with HIV for 34 years, having been diagnosed at 23. He has taken various antiretroviral drugs since. For the medical trial in the documentary, Drew had his immune system wiped with ch e moth e rapy before th e experimental treatment was given to him.

Af ter the treatment, Drew’s viral load remained undetectable. “It’s wild not to be taking meds and not have a viral load,” Drew told Variety. “ Th e s a crif ices a n d th e potential sacrifices that Jeffrey made in an ef fort to cure HIV, which 38 million people worldwide are battling, is a heroic journey that everyone should know about,” said Spencer’s producing partner, Brian Clisham.

Olivia Spencer (above) co-produces Right to Try, which follows Jeffrey Drew’s (above middle) quest for an HIV cure. Citizen Ashe will focus on tennis great Arthur Ashe (top right), who died of AIDS-related complications in 1993.

Slated for release in 2022 is Citizen Ashe, about beloved sports great Arthur Ashe (above). CNN Films and HBO Max will release the story of the Black tennis legend who first found glory in the 1960s and ’70s, when the sport was openly hostile to nonwhite players. Ashe’s social activism will be a central part of the film.

After being diagnosed with HIV — likely from a blood transfusion in 1983 — Ashe worked to combat the virus and the stigma around it, establishing the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS. Just months after his death in February 1993, Ashe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton.

Award-winning filmmakers Rex Miller (A Chef’s Life) and Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls, When the Levees Broke) will helm Citizen Ashe, utilizing news coverage and family footage.

“Our film is a first-person exploration of Arthur Ashe in his own words, describing his own origin story as a social activist. He created a unique blueprint for advancing civil rights for disenfranchised and oppressed people throughout the world, amid a tumultuous time of demonstrations and assassinations. Citizen Ashe shows a true champion’s defining moments,” Miller said in a statement.

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DABABY’S DASASTER

A POPULAR RAPPER SLANDERS THE HIV AND LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES, BUT MORE EDUCATED INDIVIDUALS TURN THE SCANDAL INTO A TEACHABLE MOMENT.

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DaBaby to “know your facts” about HIV, while John laid out the scientific realities of the disease in a series of tweets.

In response to the uproar, DaBaby initially issued a short, defensive apology to the HIV community, while still jabbing and sex-shaming LGBTQ+ people. Eventually, he unequivocally apologized to both groups, saying he was sorry for “my misinformed comments about HIV/ AIDS,” adding he knows “education on this is important to all.”

The polished statement, seemingly drafted from a c r i si s co m m u n i c ati o n s profe s sional, was viewed as insincere damage control by many, since DaBaby found himself losing lucrative sponsorship deals and numerous concert bookings — including Chicago’s massive Lollapalooza festival — in the wake of his rants.

HIV and LGBTQ+ organizations tried to utilize the furor — coming exactly four decades after the first cases of what would become known as AIDS were identified by public health officials — as a lesson for DaBaby and the public. “ The rhetoric that DaBaby used is inaccurate, hurtful, and harmful to the LGBTQ community and the estimated 1.2 million Americans living with HIV,” DaShawn Usher, GLAAD’s associate director for communities of color,

said in a statement. “It is critical that DaBaby and his fans learn that people living with HIV today, when on effective treatment, lead long and healthy lives and cannot transmit HIV. While DaBaby has made haphazard attempts to ‘apologize,’ actions need to be taken for full accountability and changes to do better in the future.

It further confirms what GL A AD repor ted last year in the ‘State of HIV Stigma Study’ that stigma and misinformation around HIV is widespread, and there is much work to be done to educate the public, including entertainers.”

Eleven HIV organizations called for a meeting with the 29-year-old musician and released an open letter on HIV facts. The groups, which included the Prevention Access Campaign (see page 46), the Southern AIDS Coalition, and the Black AIDS Institute, also made clear that, with treatment, people living with HIV lead long and healthy lives and cannot sexually transmit HIV. “At a time when HIV continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans and queer and transgender people of color, a dialogue is critical. We must address the miseducation about HIV, expressed in your comments, and the impact it has on various communities,” read part of the letter.

As of press time, DaBaby had not accepted the invitation for a meeting with the organizations.— N B

RICH FU RY/G E T T Y IMAG ES (DABABY ); SH UT TERSTOCK (MADON NA , JOH N , Q U ESTLOVE )

With 40 years of medical advances and public relations campaigns, it might be safe to assume blatant HIV stigma was a thing of the past. If the ignorant, offensive comments recently made by rapper DaBaby yield anything positive, it may be reminding the public how much contempt for HIV-positive people still exists and how much work remains to end that hate.

I nf a m o u sly, th e platinum-selling rapper unloaded, unprompted, at a Miami music festival in July, stating, “[If] you didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put a cell phone light in the air. Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put a cell phone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put a cell phone light in the air.”

DaBaby followed up those contemptible remarks by saying on social media that his gay fans don’t have HIV because they are not “nasty gay n---as” or “junkies.”

What followed was swift condemnation on social media and from celebrities.

Music industry h e av y we i g ht s li ke Elton John, Madonna, and ?uestlove blasted DaBaby’s initial comments. The Queen of Pop told

Celebs like Madonna, Elton John, and ?uestlove (below, left to right) were quick to criticize DaBaby’s (left) recent offensive remarks about HIV and LGBTQ+ people.

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BREAKING THE CHAINS

One of the nation’s most populous states finally decriminalizes HIV. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a historic bill into law in late July decriminalizing HIV. Before, those in Illinois living with HIV faced prison time and thousands of dollars in fines for not disclosing their status to their sexual partners.

Pritzker said the laws were archaic. “They don’t decrease infection rates, but they do increase stigma,” he said, according to Chicago TV station WMAQ. “It’s high time we treat HIV as we do other treatable transmissible diseases.”

Activists applauded the bill, saying it’s a significant step in helping fight the stigma around living with HIV. “Especially for people living with HIV, it finally takes the stigma away that people living with HIV are dangerous.

It finally makes HIV, like every other disease, not criminalized,” AIDS Foundation Chicago community organizer Coleman Goode told Plus. “So this is a very monumental moment, especially with only being the states have HIV-specific criminal laws or second state in the country to completely repeal the sentencing enhancements and five may harmful law.” require registration as a sex offender.

Texas fully decriminalized HIV in 1994.

“The criminalization of HIV has harmed communities Source: Center for HIV Law & Policy in our home state for decades. It has done nothing other than spread fear and stigma, and it discouraged people from getting tested or knowing their status. This legislation was passed to bring an end to these harms and modernize how we approach this public health issue. We are very relieved to see this destructive law has finally been stricken from the books,” the Illinois HIV Action Alliance said in a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

The lead state Senate sponsor, Robert Peters, said the law was rooted in fear and racism. “It was used to abuse people in our state, targeting people living with HIV and disproportionately affecting LGBTQ+ people, women, and Black and brown communities,” he said.

State Rep. Carol Ammons, the lead House sponsor, praised Pritzker for signing the bill.

“Not a single study throughout the country shows HIV criminalization has reduced HIV transmission in any jurisdiction where it exists. It was far past time to get rid of this harmful law, and we thank Gov. Pritzker for repealing it once and for all,” Ammons said.

The legislation, House Bill 1063, will also keep state’s attorneys from getting access to a person’s medical history for cases.

Pritzker signed several other bills in support of LGBTQ+ people. One, House Bill 3709, allows same-sex couples to receive fertility treatment coverage. The bill also provides coverage to women over 35, single people, and those who cannot get pregnant due to medical conditions. House Bill 2590 makes county clerks issue new marriage certificates with the new legal name on them if one member of the couple shows the clerk a legal name change order.

Additionally, under Senate Bill 139 a county clerk must grant a new marriage certificate after a person requests a correction to the gendered language on the marriage certificate. They can also remove the gendered language from the certificate altogether so that “spouse” is used. — A L E X CO O P E R

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The More You Know

A New York-based organization provides scholarships to college students across the country living with HIV.

COU RTESY SU B J EC TS (ALL)

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The recipients this year include students originally from Cameroon and Mexico, as well as California and Washington State.

After five years, the HIV League has supported 90 students with $290,500 in scholarship funding since 2017. Funding comes from corporations and organizations such as Gilead, AIDS United, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Campbell’s Family Foundation, and JustForFans along with many individual donors.

To be eligible for the scholarships, students must be living with HIV, have been enrolled as a full-time or part-time student at an institution of higher education in the U.S. for a least a year, and have at least a 2.5 GPA. The HIV League has specifically looked to bring equity to higher education through scholarships for trans students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or other people of color.

The league had a goal to provide at least $10,000 in scholarships to BIPOC trans students living with HIV and has now been able to provide $12,000 to three such students, Szymczyk says.

Most of the students who receive the league’s scholarships are age 22 to 39, but students as young as 17 and as old as 50 have also gotten funding. Almost 65 percent of the scholars are firstgeneration college students.

Each year, the organization gets hundreds of applications for only a few spots. In order to be as fair as possible, each application is screened several times by board members and volunteer reviewers.

Name any other medical diagnosis or disability other than HIV, Szymczyk says, and there’s a scholarship for it. “If someone is diagnosed with HIV, that old-school thought is they’re not going to be around much longer, why invest in them?” Szymczyk says. So finding outside allies for the scholarships has been difficult, he says.

“The most support that we have received when it comes to just spreading the word of the scholarship being available is from other HIV-related organizations, specifically like AIDS service organizations and organizations who serve gender-diverse populations,” Szymczyk explains. He says universities haven’t been extremely helpful in marketing the scholarships.

Regardless of the complications, Szymczyk says the HIV League just wants to show the world how deserving and hardworking students living with HIV are.

“We’re trying to communicate just the potential of students living with HIV,” he says. The students, he says, haven’t let HIV stop them from achieving their goals. “Their HIV status really does play a part into what direction they go into when it comes to goals, aspirations, and what they want to do later in life. Students living with HIV have such a huge impact on their community.”

COU RTESY SU B J EC TS (ALL)

Daniel Szymczyk remembers being a college student living with HIV. “I was getting my bachelor’s degree when I seroconverted. And I really saw that there was little to no support, especially at the time when I was living in the South,” he recalls.

Realizing the lack of financial support for students like him led Szymczyk to create the HIV League, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to students living with HIV. Szymczyk, who’s been a social work intern and counselor at nonprofits including Housing Works and the Ali Forney Center, said the six-year-old HIV League runs the only national scholarship for students living with HIV. These students often have experienced discrimination, stigma, and a host of other obstacles including lack of housing, systemic racism, homophobia, transphobia, substance misuse or abuse, and other socioeconomic issues. Add to that the weight of the financial burden found in higher education, and it can be a lot for any person to handle.

The HIV League recently announced its 2021 cohort of scholars.

“These 39 Scholars have shown how promising they are as students living with HIV through their educational accomplishments, leadership, and service,” the group said in a statement.

The larger of the HIV League scholarships can be worth up to $7,000 over the course of two years.

The organization also offers a $3,500 scholarship for one year of study to a full-time student and a $1,500 scholarship for a part-time student. For the last two years, the HIV League have given out micro-scholarships, which arose out of the pandemic.

“We saw a huge need among many students, not just students living with HIV, but pretty much all students across the entire nation, really struggling, really trying to make ends meet,” Szymczyk says. “And we saw that there was a need for… students living with HIV, a need for one-time… microscholarships.” The group hopes to continue these $1,000 micro-scholarships.

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HIV LEAGUE SCHOLARS DOMINIC MIN-TRAN (OPPOSITE), ETHAN HAWES (ABOVE), AND OTHER RECIPIENTS (PREVIOUS PAGE)

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Found in Translation

COU RTESY LUCIANO REB ERTE

The star of a new Spanish language commercial for HIV treatment reflects on the importance of centering Latinx people. BY N E A L BROV E R M A N A young man nails a work presentation, is congratulated by his coworkers, swings by a bakery, and then attends a party with his friends and family members. The scenario that plays out in a recent ad for the HIV medication Dovato is much like a typical day for Luciano Reberte, who stars in the Spanish-language commercial — the first of its kind for the drug’s maker, ViiV Healthcare.

Conceived and produced fully in Spanish, the commercial began airing this summer on the Univision and Telemundo networks.

Reberte, a patient ambassador for Dovato since December 2018, was asked by ViiV executives to be part of the historic ad, but only if he shared his personal story with the commercial’s producers. By showing Reberte just going about his day, the ViiV team hopes to depict how medications like Dovato enable people with HIV to simply live their lives.

“There were a lot of listening sessions and conversations with me to make sure this is truly who I am in the commercial and [that the ad] was a natural representation of my community,” Reberte says.

Starring in the commercial was a natural fit for Reberte, who has worked at the New York City-based Latino Commission on AIDS for the past six years and is now the nonprofit’s community engagement director. Hailing from Argentina, Reberte was diagnosed with HIV several years ago while on a visit to New York. He admits that not having a Spanishspeaking doctor then made the experience even more frightening. Reberte believes Latinx people living with HIV respond best when information on health and treatment is tailor-made for them.

Starring in the commercial was, Reberte says, “important for me, not only for all the exposure I was going to get but also because I was representing my community and being in the first Spanish-language commercial for this medication.”

He says he’s just one of the many Latinx HIV activists that always looks at new commercials and HIV campaigns and asks, “Is this in Spanish? Is this really addressing or reflecting the Spanish niche? Latinos in the U.S. are heavily affected by HIV. We need to see those commercials and campaigns represent our community.”

Currently, 27 percent of all new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. are among Latinx adults and teens. That disproportionate number — Latinos make up only 18.5 percent of the American population — is something ViiV executives are well aware of.

“In the past 10 years, we’ve seen a 16 percent increase in new cases of HIV among Latinx men who have sex with men, indicating more support and culturally relevant prevention and treatment efforts are necessary,” says Marc Meachem, head of U.S. external affairs for ViiV Healthcare. “The Latinx community requires diverse and accessible HIV care and resources that reflect their unique needs, and Spanish-language resources will help expand access to critical medical information for the more than 37 million Spanish speakers in the U.S.” He adds, “Beyond language, we know that it is paramount that communities can see themselves reflected in efforts that are both representative of their experiences and culturally relevant. As a Latinx gay man living with HIV, the authentic story of Luciano featured in the first-ever Spanish-language TV ad for an HIV treatment promotes visibility and representation, which we hope will over time help to destigmatize HIV within the community.”

During the initial conversations around the ad campaign, Reberte stressed the importance of family — a theme incorporated into the party scene that closes out the commercial.

“Family needs to be present,” Reberte told the producers.

“For many Latinos, family is very important. Everything in the commercial was taken from who I am.”

Not having much experience in front of a video camera, Reberte was a bit nervous before filming began.

“Sharing my HIV diagnosis in a national commercial was a lot,” he says. The ViiV team helped allay his anxiety, though.

“They treated me like a high-level star. They were very patient and caring.”

Now, with the ad airing around the country, Reberte is emboldened by its impact.

“I think this commercial will be a lesson for other companies, not just in regards to HIV but anyone trying to get products and services to Latinx people,” Reberte says. “I think companies need to do more of this.”

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Encontrado en traducción

COU RTESY LUCIANO REB ERTE

La estrella de un nuevo comercial en español para el tratamiento del VIH refleja la importancia de centrar a las personas latinx. P OR N E A L BROV E R M A N Un joven hace una presentación de trabajo, lo felicitan sus compañeros, pasa por una panadería y luego asiste a una fiesta con sus amigos y familiares. El escenario que se desarrolla en un anuncio reciente del medicamento para el VIH Dovato es muy parecido a un día típico para Luciano Reberte, quien protagoniza el comercial en español— el primero de su tipo para el fabricante de medicamentos ViiV Healthcare.

Concebido y producido completamente en español, el comercial comenzó a transmitir este verano en las redes Univision y Telemundo.

Los ejecutivos de ViiV le pidieron a Reberte— paciente-embajador de Dovato desde Diciembre de 2018—que fuera parte del anuncio histórico, pero solo si compartía su historia personal con los productores del comercial. En mostrar Reberte siguiendo con su día, el equipo de ViiV espera demostrar cómo los medicamentos como Dovato permiten que las personas que viven con el VIH simplemente vivan sus vidas.

“Hubo muchas sesiones de escucha y conversaciones conmigo para asegurarme de que realmente soy quien soy en el comercial y [que el anuncio] era una representación natural de mi comunidad”, dice Reberte.

Protagonizar el comercial fue algo natural para Reberte, quien ha trabajado en la Comisión Latina sobre el SIDA en la ciudad de Nueva York durante los últimos seis años, y ahora es el director de participación comunitaria de la organización sin fines de lucro. Originalmente de Argentina, Reberte fue diagnosticada con el VIH hace varios años durante una visita a Nueva York. Admite que no tener un médico que hable español hizo que la experiencia fuera aún más aterradora. Reberte cree que las personas latinx que viven con el VIH responden mejor cuando la información sobre salud y tratamiento está hecha a medida para ellos.

Reberte dice que protagonizar el comercial fue “importante para mí, no solamente por toda la exposición que iba a tener, sino también porque representaba a mi comunidad y estaba en el primer comercial en español de este medicamento.”

Dice que es solo uno de los muchos activistas latinos contra el VIH que siempre mira nuevos comerciales y campañas contra el VIH y pregunta: “¿Está esto en español? ¿Esto realmente se dirige o refleja el nicho español? Los latinos en los E.E. U.U. se ven muy afectados por el VIH. Necesitamos que esos anuncios y campañas representen a nuestra comunidad.”

Actualmente, el 27 por ciento de todos los nuevos diagnósticos de VIH en los E.E. U.U. se encuentra entre adultos y adolescentes latinos.

Ese número desproporcionado (los latinos representan solo el 18.5 por ciento de la población estadounidense) es algo que los ejecutivos de ViiV conocen muy bien.

“En los últimos 10 años, hemos visto un aumento del 16 por ciento en nuevos casos de VIH entre hombres latinos que tienen sexo con hombres, lo que indica que se necesitan más apoyo y esfuerzos de prevención y tratamiento culturalmente relevantes”, dice Marc Meachem, director de E.E. U.U. asuntos externos para ViiV Healthcare. “La comunidad latina requiere atención y recursos diversos y accesibles para el VIH que reflejen sus necesidades únicas, y los recursos en español ayudarán a ampliar el acceso a información médica crítica para los más de 37 millones de hispanohablantes en los E.E. U.U.” Agrega: “Más allá del lenguaje, sabemos que es primordial que las comunidades puedan verse reflejadas en esfuerzos que sean tanto representativos de sus experiencias como culturalmente relevantes.

Como hombre gay latino que vive con el VIH, la auténtica historia de Luciano, que aparece en el primer anuncio televisivo en español sobre un tratamiento contra el VIH, promueve la visibilidad y la representación, lo que esperamos con el tiempo ayude a des estigmatizar el VIH dentro de la comunidad.”

Durante las conversaciones iniciales sobre la campaña publicitaria, Reberte destacó la importancia de la familia, un tema incorporado en la escena de la fiesta que cierra el comercial.

“La familia necesita estar presente”, dijo Reberte a los productores.

“Para muchos latinos, la familia es muy importante. Todo en el comercial fue quitado de quien soy.”

Al no tener mucha experiencia frente a una cámara de video, Reberte estaba un poco nervioso antes de que comenzara el rodaje.

“Compartir mi diagnóstico de VIH en un comercial nacional fue mucho.” Sin embargo, el equipo de ViiV ayudó a calmar su ansiedad.

“Me trataron como a una estrella de alto nivel. Fueron muy pacientes y cariñosos.”

Ahora, con el anuncio al aire en todo el país, Reberte se envalentona por su impacto.

“Creo que este comercial será una lección para otras empresas, no solo en lo que respecta al VIH, sino también a cualquiera que intente llevar productos y servicios a las personas latinas,” dice Reberte. “Creo que las empresas necesitan hacer más de esto.”

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Montoya embraces his life partner and fellow cofounder of Moving Arts Española, Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel, who is also the executive director

“I’M BEYOND HUMBLED,”

are among the f irst words from recently-elected New Mexico state representative Roger Montoya as he sat down recently to chat with us for our Latinx issue’s cover feature. This immediately clues you in to what kind of person Montoya is — and is continually reinforced as we get to know him and his incredible journey to the halls of power.

For much of his early life, working in politics was never really on his radar.

In his youth, Montoya was a skilled gymnast who nearly reached the Olympics had it not been for a careerending injury. From there, he studied dance and the visual arts at various highprofile institutions across the country.

Eventually, Montoya (alongside life partner Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel) went on to be honored a one of ten CNN Heroes in 2019 and became the first out gay and HIV-positive representative in New Mexico’s history.

Looking back now, the 60-yearold artist and humanitarian says he realized at a young age, “maybe 4 or 5,” that he stood out amongst his peers and was labeled a “sissy” early on. He recalls hearing uncles whispering that “he was not a real man” to other family members in Spanish, thinking he couldn’t understand.

Growing up in Denver, Montoya describes his younger self as “extremely precocious, mischievous, u lt r a-k i net ic , c a r t w he e l i n g — zipping here, zipping there. But my internal landscape was very different.

I was very shy, painfully shy.”

“And so I think,” he continues, “my flitting and zipping about was natural, but it caused reaction from homophobic uncles that was contrary to [the joy of it]. I tried to suppress it. That was sort of the conflict with self that I experienced.

But I also felt this joy and excitement for moving in the world. That’s why I was put into gymnastics very early.”

“ESTOY MÁS QUE HUMILDE,”

son algunas de las primeras palabras del representante del estado de Nue vo Mé x ic o, r e c ientemente electo Roger Montoya, cuando se sentó recientemente a conversar con nosotros acerca del artículo portada de nuestro número Latinx. Esto indica de inmediato que tipo de persona es Montoya, y se refuerza continuamente a medida que lo conocemos y su increíble viaje a los pasillos del poder.

Durante gran parte de su vida temprana, trabajar en política nunca estuvo realmente en su radar. En su juventud, Montoya fue un hábil gimnasta que estuvo a punto de llegar a los Juegos Olímpicos sinó hubiera sido por una lesión que puso fin a su carrera. A partir de ahí, estudió danza y artes visuales en varias instituciones de alto perfil en todo el país. Finalmente, Montoya (junto con su compañero de vida Salvador Ruiz-Esquivel) fue honrado como uno de los diez héroes de CNN en 2019 y se convirtió en el primer representante gay y VIH positivo en la historia de Nuevo México.

Mirando hacia atrás ahora, el artista y humanitario de 60 años, dice que se dio cuenta a una edad temprana, “tal vez 4 o 5,” que se destacaba entre sus compañeros y que fue etiquetado como un “mariquita” desde el principio. Recuerda haber escuchado a sus tíos susurrar que “no era un hombre de verdad” a otros miembros de la familia en español, pensando que él no podía entender.

Al crecer en Denver, Montoya describe a su yo más joven como “extremadamente precoz, travieso, ultracinético, volteador de carro, deslizándose aquí, deslizándose allá. Pero mi paisaje interno era muy diferente. Era muy tímido, dolorosamente tímido.”

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Despite the inner turmoil caused by early brushes with homophobia, Montoya says his parents supported his passion, and his years as a young athlete took him far. In his teens, he went to an elite training camp in Europe also attended by five-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comăneci (famous for scoring a perfect 10), a dream come true for the aspiring gymnast.

“The ’68 Olympics and then the ’72 Olympics were monumental and life changing for me because I saw Olga Korbut do her routines,” recalls Montoya. “And so my mother and father were very excited that I loved something so much. And I was good.”

Throughout his high school years, he continued traveling and competing in gymnastics, which ultimately brought him to the West coast. After suffering a severe concussion doing a double-back flip, he decided to quit the sport and shift his focus to dance. The next decade 28

reprimirlo. Esa f ue una especie de conf licto conmigo mismo que experimenté. Pero también sentí esta alegría y emoción por moverme en el mundo. Por eso me metieron en la gimnasia desde muy temprano.”

A pesar de la confusión interna causada por los primeros roces con la homofobia, Montoya dice que sus padres apoyaron su pasión y sus años como joven atleta lo llevaron lejos.

En su adolescencia, fue a un campo de entrenamiento de élite en Europa, al que también asistió la cinco veces medallista de oro olímpica Nadia Comăneci (famosa por anotar un 10 perfecto), un sueño hecho realidad para la aspirante a gimnasta.

“Los Juegos Olímpicos del ’68 y luego los Juegos Olímpicos del ’72 fueron monumentales y me cambiaron la vida porque vi a Olga Korbut hacer sus rutinas,” recuerda Montoya. “Y entonces mi madre y mi padre estaban

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Montoya, who is also a lifelong visual artist, enjoys a day painting the beautiful New Mexico landscape

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Montoya revels in a moment onstage with some of the dance students at Moving Arts Española

or so of Montoya’s life was eventful, a path full of high peaks and dark valleys as a deadly new “gay cancer” began to ravage his community.

“I was only 18 years old,” he continues. “I met a man who was 35 and he ended up dying of GRID, gayrelated immuno-deficiency. He was my first continual sexual partner…and so I contracted HIV probably in ’79, ’80, even though there wasn’t a test until ’86.”

Unfortunately this was just the beginning of the death and devastation that the AIDS epidemic would bring over the next decade and a half. Despite the miraculous fact that Montoya had managed to stay healthy during these pre-antiretroviral years, other than “a little weight loss here and there, a debilitated spirit, and low T cells,” he witnessed firsthand the darkest realities of the virus.

“Around ’82, ’83, I met another man, Bob, who died in 1986 of AIDS [complications],” Montoya says. “And by then, by the time of his death, it had been named AIDS…. I decided to come home to New Mexico about a year before he died — he was still well enough and he met my parents and saw the land where I now live. He lived there for a brief period…. His parents who had ostracized him early in his life, their only child, decided to warm up a little bit because now their son was terminal with this new gay cancer. They gave him some money, and my parents gave us the land in the back. And we started what became the house that I now live in today, a beautiful home. Bob gave me a gift of starting a home in my early 20s.”

After his partner passed, Montoya moved to New York on a dance scholarship.

“Those were my f irst incredible experiences,” he says. “It just was just an amazing time of growth and excitement. But looming in the background was my own [HIV status].

Right after Bob died here in New Mexico, my mother, being the astute nurse that she is, had me tested…. And 30

muy emocionados de que yo amaba algo tanto. Y yo [lo hacía] bien.”

A lo largo de sus años de escuela secundaria, continuó viajando y compitiendo en gimnasia, lo que finalmente lo llevó a la costa oeste.

Después de sufrir una conmoción cerebral severa al hacer una voltereta hacia atrás, decidió dejar el deporte y cambiar su enfoque al baile. La siguiente década más o menos de la vida de Montoya fue agitada, un camino lleno de picos altos y valles oscuros mientras un nuevo y mortal “cáncer de los maricas” comenzaba a devastar su comunidad.

“Sólo tenía 18 años,” continúa.

“Conocí a un hombre que tenía 35 años y terminó muriendo de GRID, una inmunodeficiencia relacionada con los homosexuales. Él fue mi primera pareja sexual continua ... así que contraje el VIH probablemente en el ’79, ’80, aunque no hubo una prueba hasta el ’86.”

Desafortunadamente, esto fue solo el comienzo de la muerte y la devastación que traería la epidemia de SIDA durante la próxima década y media. A pesar del hecho milagroso de que Montoya se las había arreglado para mantenerse sano durante estos años pre-antirretrovirales, además de “una pequeña pérdida de peso aquí y allá, un espíritu debilitado y células T bajas,” fue testigo de primera mano de las realidades más oscuras del virus.

“Alrededor del ’82, ’83, conocí a otro hombre, Bob, que murió en 1986 de [complicaciones] del SIDA,” dice Montoya. “Y para entonces, en el momento de su muerte, se le había llamado SIDA…. Decidí volver a casa en Nuevo México aproximadamente un año antes de que muriera; todavía estaba lo suficientemente bien y conoció a mis padres y vió la tierra donde vivo ahora. Vivió por un breve período….

Sus padres, que lo habían condenado al ostracismo temprano en su vida, su único hijo, decidieron acercarse un poco porque ahora que su hijo iba morir con este nuevo cáncer de los maricas. Le dieron algo de dinero y mis padres nos dieron la tierra en la parte de atrás. Y

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Montoya is proudly serving his term as New Mexico’s first out gay and HIV-positive state representative

so we did it, and we cried. And, you know, it was clear that it didn’t look good for me, at that point in ’86…. I ended up getting my own apartment [in New York] and started auditioning with Paul Taylor Dance Company, Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp…and I just was immersed in this beautiful world of contemporary dance in the city. But at the same time, hundreds of men are dying. It became critical in [the late ’80s]. So by ’89, after a tour of Europe with Parson’s company…I was starting to feel depressed. I was starting to feel the debilitating physical effects and went to Brooklyn and got a doctor and my T cells were about 60.”

“It was a…it was a hard moment,” Montoya continues, emotion welling up in his voice. “It was really hard because we were losing top dancers in the company…and I just been through Bob’s horrific death…it was just horrible.”

Overwhelmed by the grief and trauma, and believing that he would soon die too, Montoya decided to return to New Mexico to live out his final days with his parents. But to his surprise, not only did he not die — he began to thrive.

“I figured if I’ve got a couple, three, four, or five years, max,” he says. “I would be there in the house that I started with Bob in the early ’80s and right next to my parents who are now in their 60s and 70s. I thought, You know what? They need me, I need them, I’m leaving this thing, my life is over. I’m just gonna go back and die. And what happened was quite the contrary, it was amazing. And it wasn’t easy right away, but I started painting, which had been a parallel interest my entire life…. And so when I returned, and the air was clean and I could think straight, and there were beautiful young people around that needed the kind of light that I had just come from.

These kids are talented, this place is beautiful, the population is tiny. I was struggling in New York, working at

comenzamos lo que se convirtió en la casa en la que ahora vivo hoy, una hermosa casa. Bob me dió el regalo de comenzar una casa cuando tenía 20 años.”

Después de la muerte de su pareja, Montoya se mudó a Nueva York con una beca de baile.

“Esas f ueron mis primeras e x p er ienc i a s i nc reí ble s ,” d ic e .

“Simplemente fué un momento increíble de crecimiento y entusiasmo. Pero en el fondo se vislumbraba mi propio estado [de VIH]. Inmediátamente después de que Bob murió aquí en Nuevo México, mi madre, siendo la enfermera astuta que es, me hizo la prueba…. Y así lo hicimos y lloramos. Y, ya sabes, estaba claro que no se veía bien para mí, en ese momento en el ’86…. Terminé obteniendo mi propio apartamento [en Nueva York] y comencé a hacer una audición con Paul Taylor Dance Company, Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp… y me sumergí en este hermoso mundo de la danza contemporánea en la ciudad. Pero al mismo tiempo, cientos de hombres están muriendo.

Se volvió crítico [a finales de los ’80].

Así que para el ’89, después de una gira por Europa con la compañía de Parson...estaba empezando a sentirme deprimido. Estaba empezando a sentir los efectos físicos debilitantes y fuía Brooklyn a buscar un médico y mis células T tenían alrededor de 60.”

“Fue un...fue un momento difícil,” continúa Montoya, con la emoción brotando en su voz. “Fue realmente difícil porque estábamos perdiendo a los mejores bailarines en la compañía ... y yo acabo de pasar por la horrible muerte de Bob ... fue simplemente horrible.”

Abrumado por el dolor y el trauma, y ​​creyendo que él también moriría pronto, Montoya decidió regresar a Nuevo México para vivir sus últimos días con sus padres. Pero para su sorpresa, no sólo no murió, sino que comenzó a prosperar.

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Montoya chatting and having fun with some of his current and former students from Moving Arts Española; he’s been a lifelong mentor to many of them

the Boys and Girls School and the Jewish school, and teaching here and selling cheese at Dean & DeLuca — whatever I could do to survive — and I came back and I had this bucolic life, of being with my parents and seeing the potential of New Mexico.”

Montoya went on to cofound several organizations, including his youthbased nonprofit Moving Arts Española (MovingArtsEspanola.org), which he started with his partner, Ruiz-Esquivel.

The after-school program offers visual and performing arts education, free healthy meals, and academic support for the children and youth of northern New Mexico.

Last November, Montoya was elected New Mexico state representative for District 40 near Santa Fe, despite a GOP-led smear campaign that unearthed his brief, long-ago past in adult entertainment. He addressed the rumors head on, stating he had starred in two adult films as a 22-year-old struggling college student and dancer in Los Angeles “nearly 40 years ago, in a very different time and climate,” and went on to win the seat.

These days, now eight months into his elected position, Montoya is focused on improving life for those living in rural areas of New Mexico, who he says need the state’s help most.

“I put together this really large, big picture about rural New Mexico… because rural areas are underserved,” he explains. “So it’s an infrastructure bill that I pushed really hard for because the largest cities garner all the funding….

There has not been an investment in rural infrastructure in our state since the Eisenhower era. And the work that Biden is doing right now is absolutely in alignment [with this].”

Montoya says he credits his mother in a lot of ways for gearing him toward political action, as well as his grandmother and all the strong Latinas he knew growing up for helping him realize that being a “sissy” really isn’t an insult after all.

con Bob a principios de los ’80s y justo al lado de mis padres, que ahora tienen 60 y 70 años. Pensé, ¿Sabes qué? Ellos me necesitan, yo los necesito, dejo esto, mi vida se acabó. Solo voy a regresar y morir.

Y lo que pasó fue todo lo contrario, fue asombroso. Y no fue fácil de inmediato, pero comencé a pintar, lo que había sido un interés paralelo toda mi vida ... Y así, cuando regresé, el aire estaba limpio y podía pensar con claridad, y había hermosos jóvenes alrededor que necesitaban el tipo de luz de la que acababa de venir. Estos niños son talentosos, este lugar es hermoso, la población es pequeña. Estaba luchando en Nueva York, trabajando en la escuela Boys and Girls School y la escuela judía, y enseñaba aquí y vendía queso en Dean & DeLuca, lo que fuera que pudiera hacer para sobrevivir, y regresé y tuve esta vida bucólica, de estar con mis padres y viendo el potencial de Nuevo México.”

Montoya luego cofundó varias organizaciones, incluída su organización sin fines de lucro Moving Arts Española (MovingArtsEspanola. org), que comenzó con su pareja, RuizEsquivel. El programa extracurricular ofrece educación en artes visuales y escénicas, comidas saludables gratuitas y apoyo académico para los niños y jóvenes del norte de Nuevo México.

El pasado Noviembre, Montoya fue elegido representante del estado de Nuevo México para el Distrito 40 cerca de Santa Fe, a pesar de una campaña de difamación liderada por el Partido Republicano que descubrió su breve pasado en el entretenimiento para adultos. Abordó los rumores de frente, afirmando que había protagonizado dos películas para adultos como un estudiante universitario y bailarín de 22 años en Los Ángeles “hace casi 40 años, en una época y un clima muy diferente,” y ganó el asiento.

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“I admired women growing up, when I was called the mujerero [sissy], it was because I always clung to the aunts and the tias and the older cousins and the grandmothers.

When the boys were throwing balls and breaking windows and cussing and fighting, I was sitting under the kitchen table, listening to their conversations and their strength and their strategy to survive — men that were beating them and alcoholics…. They always were action-oriented to do what they needed to do to survive for the family, or the individual, whatever the case may be. And I think that instilled this really graceful power, that sort of divine feminine quality that, being called and teased as a sissy, I later in life said to myself, You know what, this is pretty darn cool — who you are, how you move, how you speak, you’re a dancer, you’re an artist. This is who you are. It’s your fingerprint — live it.”

Montoya adds, “I think…watching those [AIDS-related] deaths up close and personal, literally in my arms, was essentially instructive to a life…. Go for it, don’t hold back, I had lived a life that was worth living, and there were lessons to help others and my mother was very much part of that…. She said, ‘We have to fight. We have to open these doors to help the people see and to survive — because you’re here.’ She and I were just co-patriots, all the way.”

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México, quienes, según él, necesitan más el ayuda del estado.

“Reuní este panorama, realmente amplio sobre las zonas rurales de Nuevo México ... porque las zonas rurales están desatendidas,” explica. “Así que es un proyecto de ley de infraestructura por el que presioné mucho, porque las ciudades más grandes obtienen todos los fondos ... No ha habido una inversión en infraestructura rural en nuestro estado desde la era Eisenhower. Y el trabajo que Biden está haciendo en este momento está absolutamente alineado [con esto].”

Montoya dice que le da crédito a su madre de muchas maneras por orientarlo hacia la acción política, así como a su abuela, y a todas las latinas fuertes que conoció cuando creció, por ayudarlo a darse cuenta de que ser un “mariquita” en realidad no es un insulto después de todo.

“Admiraba a las mujeres de niño, cuando me llamaban mariquita era porque siempre me aferraba a las tías y las primas mayores y las abuelas. Cuando los chicos lanzaban pelotas y rompían ventanas y maldecían y peleaban, yo estaba sentado debajo de la mesa de la cocina, escuchando sus conversaciones, y su fuerza, y ​​su estrategia para sobrevivir hombres que los golpeaban y alcohólicos….

Siempre estuvieron orientados a la acción para hacer lo que tienen que hacer para sobrevivir para la familia o el individuo, cualquiera que sea el caso. Y creo que eso inculcó este poder realmente elegante, esa clase de cualidad femenina divina que, siendo llamado y burlado como un mariquita, más tarde en la vida me dije a mí mismo: Sabes qué, esto es bastante genial: quién eres, cómo te mueves, como hablas, eres bailarina, eres artista. Ésto es quién eres. Es tu huella digital, vívela.”

Montoya agrega: “Creo que… ver esas muertes [relacionadas con el SIDA] de cerca y en persona, literalmente en mis brazos, fue esencialmente instructivo para una vida…. Hazlo, no te reprimas, había vivido una vida que valía la pena vivir, y había lecciones para ayudar a los demás y mi madre era una gran parte de eso ... Ella dijo: ‘Tenemos que luchar. Tenemos que abrir estas puertas para ayudar a la gente a ver y sobrevivir, porque tú estás aquí’.

Ella y yo fuimos solo compatriotas, todo el camino.”

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WOMEN WARRIORS IN D.C.’S SUBURBS, LATINX WOMEN ARE DISTRIBUTING FACTS ABOUT NOT ONLY COVID BUT HIV AND OTHER DISEASES.

y this summer, the number of Latinx people receiving COVID vaccinations was steadily increasing. Unfortunately, in many states, the proportion of Latinx individuals protected from COVID lagged behind their share of the population — as well as their percentage of infections and deaths.

In the nation’s most populous state, California, 30 percent of vaccinations have gone to Hispanic people, while they account for 63 percent of cases, 48 percent of deaths, and 40 percent of the total population. There are numerous reasons why certain groups are more resistant to getting vaccinations, but for Latinx people, language barriers, fear of the medical establishment, worries over immigration status, and inflexible employers that make taking time off work difficult all contribute to the disproportionate percentage of unvaccinated Latinx individuals.

Washington, D.C.’s nonprofit organization CASA, which advocates for and provides services to the local Latinx community, is trying to pick up the slack. The group has recruited dozens of promotoras, or female, Spanish-speaking health promoters, to distribute information on the vaccine: why it’s important and safe, and where people 38

can get the shots. Descending on shopping districts where Latinx customers congregate in the D.C. suburbs in Maryland, the promotoras are countering vaccine misinformation and helping Maryland’s Latinx population cross a threshold: 50 percent have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Unlike an English-speaking health professional or a politician Latinx folks are unfamiliar with, promotoras are finding success because they’re viewed as trustworthy members of the community. The promotoras come armed with handouts explaining the realities of the vaccines (and the dangers of COVID) as well as information on COVID-related food aid and rental assistance. The women don’t shame anyone for not being vaccinated or being resistant to the jabs.

Dolores Fontalvo, a 72-year-old promotora for CASA, told NPR that her response to people scared of the vaccine is “All of us are vaccinated and we’re all healthy. Nothing has happened to us.”

For CASA, promotoras are not a new phenomenon; for years they’ve reached out to Latinx people about HIV treatment and prevention as well as facts on diabetes. With the promotoras’ success in Maryland — where they’ve collaborated with health clinics, county leaders, and the state vaccine equity task force — the model is expanding to other places, such as California.

“Nationally I think CASA and CASA’s partners are really leading the way,” Neil Sehgal, an assistant professor of health policy at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, told NPR.

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MUJERES GUERRERAS

EN LOS SUBURBIOS DE D.C., LAS MUJERES LATINAS ESTÁN DISTRIBUYENDO DATOS NO SOLO SOBRE COVID SINO TAMBIÉN SOBRE EL VIH Y OTRAS ENFERMEDADES.

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POR NEAL BROVERMAN ste verano, el número de latinos que reciben vacunas COVID estará aumentando constantemente.

Desafortunadamente, en muchos estados, la proporción de personas latinx protegidas de COVID se quedó atrás de su proporción de la población, así como de su porcentaje de infecciones y muertes.

En el estado más poblado de la nación, California, el 30 por ciento de las vacunas han sido para hispanos; mientras que representan el 63 por ciento de los casos, el 48 por ciento de las muertes y el 40 por ciento de laa población total. Existen numerosas razones por las que ciertos grupos son más resistentes a las vacunas, pero para las personas latinas, las barreras del idioma, el miedo al establecimiento médico, las preocupaciones sobre el estado migratorio y los empleadores inflexibles que dificultan la ausencia del trabajo, contribuyen a su porcentaje desproporcionado de personas no vacunadas.

CASA, la organización sin fines de lucro de Washington, D.C., que aboga y brinda servicios a la comunidad latina local, está tratando de tomar el relevo. El grupo ha reclutado a docenas de promotoras, o promotoras de salud de habla hispana, para distribuir información sobre la vacuna: por

qué es importante y segura, y dónde las personas pueden vacunarse.

Las promotoras, que vienen de los distritos comerciales donde los clientes latinx se congregan en los suburbios de DC en Maryland, están contrarrestando la información errónea sobre las vacunas y ayudando a la población latinx de Maryland a cruzar un umbral: el 50 por ciento ha recibido al menos una dosis de la vacuna.

A diferencia de un profesional del salud que no habla español, o un político con quien la gente latinx no está familiarizada, las promotoras están teniendo éxito porque se las considera miembros confiables de la comunidad. Las promotoras vienen armadas con folletos que explican las realidades de las vacunas (y los peligros de COVID), así como información sobre ayuda alimentaria y asistencia de alquiler, relacionada con COVID. Las mujeres no avergüenzan a nadie por no estar vacunadas o por ser reacio a ser inyectado.

Dolores Fontalvo, una promotora de CASA que tiene 72 años, le dijo a NPR que su respuesta a las personas que temen la vacuna es “Estamos todos vacunados y estamos todos sanos. No nos ha pasado nada.”

Para CASA, las promotoras no son un fenómeno nuevo; durante años se han acercado a personas latinas sobre el tratamiento y la prevención del VIH, así como sobre la diabetes. Con el éxito de las promotoras en Maryland, donde han colaborado con clínicas de salud, líderes del condado y el grupo de trabajo estatal de equidad en vacunas, el modelo se está expandiendo a otros lugares, como California.

“A nivel nacional, creo que CASA y los socios de CASA están realmente liderando el camino”, dijo a NPR Neil Sehgal, profesor asistente de políticas de salud en la Escuela de Salud Pública de la Universidad de Maryland.

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SOUNDING THE COVID ALARM THE PANDEMIC CAST A SHADOW ON THE INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY CONFERENCE, WITH NEW WARNINGS ABOUT INCREASED DANGER TO PEOPLE WITH HIV.

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T H E R E WA S P L E N T Y of news out of this year’s International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science, held virtually in July, but the biggest story was a new warning about the dangers of COVID-19 to people living with HIV.

Some small studies early in the pandemic suggested that HIV didn’t contribute to risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. But findings from the World Health Organization have painted a very different picture.

The WHO’s report found that the risk of developing severe or deadly COVID-19 was 30 percent higher in people living with HIV than those who aren’t. This was independent of age, gender, or other health problems.

The report was based on a much larger group of people than the previous ones.

The WHO looked at data for nearly 270,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in 37 countries from January 2020 to April 2021.

Nearly a quarter of people with HIV who were hospitalized with COVID-19 had died.

The findings drive home the need for people living with HIV to be on treatment and, in most settings, to receive priority for the COVID-19 vaccine, WHO officials said.

Another topic that received much attention was the fact that effective vaccines for COVID-19 were developed quickly, while 40 years into the HIV epidemic, there is still not a vaccine to guard against that virus.

Scientists said that if HIV vaccine research had received as much funding as the COVID vaccine effort, the quest for an HIV vaccine would be much further along.

“Money does solve problems — there’s no question!” Lynn Morris, a professor at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, told an audience member at the conference.

Morris, who has been involved in HIV vaccine research, did point out that HIV is harder to attack than SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. HIV has a greater tendency to mutate and to develop resistance to drugs and antibodies. And while the immune system eventually clears the body of the COVID-19 virus, HIV is never entirely cleared — it simply hides. But researchers are still working toward an HIV vaccine, using a variety of approaches.

There was some promising news at the conference regarding treatment and prevention. Gilead Sciences presented results from trials of lenacapavir, a drug delivered by injection every six months. In combination with other antiretrovirals, it helped suppress HIV in heavily treatment-experienced people who were no longer getting good results with their existing regimens. It could particularly benefit people who have resistance to multiple drugs.

“Despite the advances in treating HIV infection, there remains an unmet need for treatment options for people who struggle

with multidrug resistance,” said Dr. Jean-Michel Molina, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Paris. “As a physician, it’s frustrating to have limited options for these patients who are at greater risk of progressing to AIDS.” Gilead has applied for Food and Drug Administration approval of lenacapavir, which would be the first HIV drug administered every six months and the first in a new class of meds called capsid inhibitors, which target the proteins surrounding HIV’s genetic material.

Another drugmaker, Merck, presented results of a trial of islatravir, which is being evaluated both as a treatment for HIV, in combination with other drugs, and for HIV prevention on its own. The trial results discussed at the conference dealt with its use for prevention, in the strategy known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The trial found that islatravir, given in once-monthly doses of either 60 or 120 milligrams for six months, was generally well tolerated and produced no serious adverse effects. The level of the drug that remained in the body eight weeks after the last study dose was above the threshold set by researchers.

The data “provides encouraging support for the safety and tolerability profile of this HIV-1 PrEP regimen,” said Dr. Joan Butterton, vice president, global clinical development, infectious diseases, at Merck Research Laboratories. “As part of our commitment to understanding the potential for our HIV medicines in a broad range of patients, we focused on the enrollment of diverse patient populations at risk for HIV, including women, who have one of the highest unmet needs in HIV prevention.”

OTHER NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE: Once-monthly injections of HIV medications cabotegravir and rilpivirine, a combo marketed in the U.S. as Cabenuva, were administered with few problems even during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to manufacturer ViiV Healthcare. Cabenuva was just approved in the U.S. in January. In trials, health care providers worked around pandemic-related disruptions by extending hours and setting aside rooms strictly for injections, and patients still found the monthly process easy to deal with, ViiV reported.

Providers in other countries found ways to deliver treatment during the pandemic as well. Several African countries were able to keep HIV treatment interruptions to a minimum during the pandemic, using strategies such as filling prescriptions at alternative sites or increasing the amount of medication given in a refill, a team of researchers from Africa and the U.S. reported.

They looked at Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

A study out of Brazil reiterates previous findings that the use of PrEP by transgender women doesn’t significantly alter the levels of the gender-affirming hormones they’re taking, nor do the hormones interfere with PrEP drugs. The women in the latest study were taking emtricitabine plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate as PrEP (the combination of these drugs is marketed under the brand name Truvada). “Our results reassure that oral PrEP and feminizing hormone therapy may be used concomitantly,” said Vitoria Berg Cattani of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute of Health in Rio de Janeiro.

Young women in an African study showed greater adherence to PrEP regimens if they had encouragement from text and phone messages, support groups, and counseling. Some used a vaginal ring that dispenses the drug dapivirine, while others took PrEP drugs orally. Half of those using the ring did so consistently, compared with a less than quarter in previous studies. Adherence to oral PrEP improved as well with a support system in place, but researchers found women generally preferred the ring. The ring has been submitted for regulatory approval in several countries.

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A COCKTAIL TO TREAT COVID? THE FDA APPROVED PEP FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE VIRUS AND ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, LIKE THOSE WITH HIV.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently expanded the use of a COVID19 antibody therapy for post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, for those who believe they have been exposed to COVID19 or who are at a high risk of being exposed.

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The antibody cocktail is known as REGEN-COV and it essentially works as PEP for HIV does: It reduces the risk of infection even if a person has been in close contact with someone with the virus.

A study found that it was 81 percent effective in reducing symptomatic COVID-19 infections, according to a press release from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

The antibody cocktail is given monthly, lessening the stress of a routine regimen in a place where there could be repeated exposure such as in prisons or retirement homes.

Regeneron notes it is not a substitute for the vaccine and it is not authorized to act as a preexposure prophylaxis to prevent the disease.

Instead, it is an immediate treatment aimed at reducing the severity of any illness. “[The FDA’s] authorization enables certain people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection to access REGEN-COV if they have been exposed to the virus — the first time an antibody treatment has been authorized for this purpose,” said Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron. “With this authorization, the FDA specifically highlights the needs of immunocompromised people, including those taking immunosuppressive medicines, who may not mount an adequate response to vaccination, who are exposed to a person with COVID-19 or are in an institutional setting and are at high risk of exposure because of infection occurring in the same setting.”

About 3 percent of people in the U.S. may not respond completely to COVID-19 vaccines due to immunocompromising conditions or medications — such as living with HIV. The emergency use authorization allows REGEN-COV to be injected into the skin or veins.

A repeat dose can be given every four weeks.

“We continue to work with the FDA as it undertakes its review of REGEN-COV in a broader group of people, including in a preexposure prophylactic setting for people who are immunocompromised and in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19,” Yancopoulos said.

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FREE FOR ALL THE WHITE HOUSE MAKES PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS FREE FOR NEARLY ANYONE WHO QUALIFIES FOR IT.

SH UT TERSTOCK

BY A N D R E JAC K S O N

In a massive move, the Biden administration has released new guidance that directs most health insurance companies to offer HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis to beneficiaries at no cost. PrEP involves the dosing of a drug to prevent at-risk people from contracting HIV. According to the guidance, released in July by the Department of Labor, the Affordable Care Act requires health plans and market plans to offer preventative drugs that get a recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force without cost-sharing. This means that beneficiaries will not be charged co-pays or deductibles for medicine, labs, or office visits. PrEP became a part of this in January 2021, but some insurers did not update their processes. With the notice, the federal government gave insurance companies 60 days to comply. In other words, the insurers need to provide this coverage as of September 17, 2021.

“We are pleased that the federal government has issued this long-awaited guidance to insurers that will reduce barriers to PrEP and help prevent further HIV infections while advancing efforts to end HIV in the United States,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a statement.

States including New York, California, and Colorado had previously taken action to ensure the medication was covered by insurers without cost-sharing.

“While progress is being made, it is obvious that insurers and regulators must do more to ensure people with private insurance can obtain PrEP without cost-sharing,” Schmid said. “Additionally, transparency in how insurers display coverage of preventive medications such as PrEP needs further attention. We look forward to conducting additional plan reviews and holding all parties accountable for providing clear, transparent information to make it as easy as possible for people with insurance who need PrEP to access it.”

Cost has long been seen as an obstacle to access PrEP for various communities.

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ANXIOUS ABOUT POSTLOCKDOWN LIFE? HERE’S HOW TO COPE.

BY GA RY M CC L A I N I T ’ S B E E N A rough year and a half, hasn’t

it? None of us were prepared to cope with what has become a protracted global pandemic. As a therapist, I’ve found that one of the themes that has emerged in my conversations with my clients can be described broadly with one word: anxiety.

And the pandemic is probably related to what you’ve been anxious about. Adjusting to working at home, staying involved and productive. Keeping your homeschooled kids involved in their education.

Staying safe and keeping your loved ones safe.

For many, the development of effective vaccines resulted in a sigh of relief and anticipation of how soon we could get back to some kind of normal. Then new variants and breakthrough infections chased many of us back into masks. That has us second guessing if we were going too fast in getting to normal.

Or if normal is something we can return to.

Inevitably, this has led to more concerns about how we should proceed in this new chapter we are entering. And you guessed it, more anxiety.

If you’re living with HIV, that stress is likely exponentially higher. You may have had increased concerns about exposure during this pandemic. And these concerns may linger, even after we emerge from this wave.

A family member texted me earlier this year, “Our mask mandate ended. I don’t think I’m ready for this.” On the other hand, I also talked with friends and clients who jettisoned their masks early, especially when outside, walking down the street — nasty looks be damned! — and were chomping at the bit to dive back into life as we once knew it. If you’re feeling anxious about the when and how of reentry, you’re not alone.

And here are four tips to help you cope: Allow yourself to proceed at your own pace.

My response is always the same. Give yourself permission to proceed at your own pace, step by step, according to your own comfort level.

We can’t control the decisions that other people make. But if you feel the need to tiptoe

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Remember that patience continues to be a virtue. On the other hand… You might also be feeling anxious to get back to normal. If you’re in the enough-of-this-let’s-get-back-to-normal crowd, you might be like the Little League kid desperate to get into the game: “Now, coach?” And like the coach, I’d love to say, “Yes, now,” but it might be better to have you sit on the bench a little longer. It’s great to recognize our frustration with all these restrictions and isolation.

But at the risk of bursting your bubble, here are a few things to keep in mind. We still have fall and winter ahead of us. We don’t know what that will mean for the pandemic, or how that will impact restrictions.

Many schools and employers had been talking about fall as the time when everyone should come together again, inside the same four walls. Then the Delta variant made many reconsider. Everyone will be watching the numbers closely. Even when normal life returns to our own communities, the pandemic is likely to rage on elsewhere, which places us all at elevated risk. Humans don’t do well with uncertainty.

But life remains uncertain.

Keep your mind open. Thoughts about what life might look like going forward can inevitably lead to more anxiety. Without concrete information, your mind tries to do you a favor by telling you a story.

Unfortunately, that story is generally inaccurate, based on unrealistic expectations or a worst-case scenario; either way, a recipe for more anxiety. One of the biggest lessons of the pandemic has been that we are not in control. The future will provide us all with another opportunity to learn to live with uncertainty. Some of what you have been missing during the pandemic may return just as you remember it. Other aspects of the way we lived may be modified in ways we never imagined. What we do know is that life as we knew it will probably never be quite the same. So keep your mind open. Be prepared to know when you know and to adjust accordingly. Your foundation is intact; you’ve proven to yourself how resilient you are. Life is always interesting and surprising if you stay open to what’s possible.

Pay attention to your self-talk. We human beings are in a constant dialogue with ourselves. Our mind just can’t keep itself from constantly throwing thoughts at us. We evaluate, we judge, we label, we review, we plan. And we worry. If you find yourself constantly overwhelmed by upsetting thoughts, you are not alone. For many of us, the pandemic has unleashed an endless supply of anxious thoughts. Two strategies to cope: First, let the thought go. Don’t indulge it. And if that doesn’t work, talk back to your anxious thought. Drag it into the courtroom and ask it to present the evidence for its existence. If it has no evidence, send it on its way. Replace anxious thoughts with some encouragement.

I’ve got a strong support system; I’m not alone. I made it this far; I’ll face what’s ahead. Sure, I may not like all the changes ahead. But life is always full of great surprises. The point here is to not follow every anxious thought down the rabbit hole. You can’t control your thoughts, but you can control whether or not you indulge them. While you’re at it, find something every day to be grateful for — that’s a great antidote for anxious thoughts.

Reentry ahead! Keep your chin up! A new world awaits you!

R ACH EL CL AIRE /PE XELS; MA XIMILIAN IMAG ING (MCCL AIN)

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY

back into the new world, if you need to wear your mask on the street or in the grocery store, even if you if you are no longer required to, then do so. If you aren’t ready to eat in a restaurant or go to a big outdoor event, you don’t have to force yourself. We’re all a little — or a lot — traumatized by the events of the past 18 months, the upheaval wrought by the pandemic. We’re all going to be recovering emotionally at our own individual pace. It’s OK to take it as slowly as you need to. What’s important is protecting your peace of mind. Baby steps.

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Mental health editor, GARY MCCLAIN, PH.D., is a therapist, patient advocate, and author in New York. He specializes in working with those diagnosed with chronic and catastrophic medical conditions.

(JustGotDiagnosed.com) H IVPLUS MAG .CO M

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by n e al b rove r man

GONC ALO TELO/SH UT TERSTOCK

u n d e t e c ta b l e

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FIVE YEARS OF U=U THE MOVEMENT THAT CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV SEE THEMSELVES CELEBRATES A BIG BIRTHDAY AND LOOKS TO THE FUTURE. L I K E A L L O F 2021, the summer of 2016 was

Manchester Pride Parade 2019 marchers share the U=U, undetectable equals untransmittable, message.

a tumultuous, anxiety-inducing time. There was a highly contentious election and, for the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities, a searing tragedy with the Pulse massacre. Amid the stressors was a huge dose of positivity: the birth of a movement called U=U, or undetectable equals untransmittable.

On July 21, 2016, a group of accomplished doctors, activists, and scientists in the global HIV sphere — including the current director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention for the Centers for Dxisease Control and Prevention, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis — penned a consensus stating that a person living with HIV who is on antiretroviral therapy and who has achieved an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus to others. Titled, “Risk of Sexual Transmission of HIV From a Person Living With HIV Who Has an Undetectable Viral Load,” the statement was backed up by a litany of studies, quotes, sources, and explanations.

The consensus would become known as “Undetectable Equals Untransmittable,” or “U=U,” and would eventually be endorsed by thousands of additional health providers and HIV organizations around the globe.

The Prevention Access Campaign, which urged the signing of that consensus, has continued to spread its message, advocating for the lessons of U=U to be standard practice in all HIV care. Bruce Richman, founder and executive director of the campaign, believes U=U can not only chip away at HIV stigma but provide a sense of freedom and empowerment back to those living with the disease.

“Now that this community has verified U=U, we’re working on every continent to ensure it’s widely known,” Richman says. “And we’re advocating for people with HIV have to have access to the treatment and care to stay healthy and not have to worry about passing on HIV ever again.”

In five years , PAC and other U = U advocates successfully lobbied established health organizations like the CDC, the World Health Organization, and UNAIDS to endorse U=U and update assessments of HIV “risk.”

Richard Wolitski, then director of the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy at

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gave U=U a big boost in 2017 when he wrote an op-ed for TheBodyPro about the nascent movement.

“These study results are a game changer for HIV prevention, care, and treatment,” Wolitski wrote. “They are also radically changing how many people living with HIV see themselves, how they are seen by others, and relieving them of the psychological burden of the fear that they might inadvertently infect someone they love.”

The former HIV czar also commended the grassroots effort of PAC and the activists behind it: “These scientific findings require that we step back and re-assess what we thought we knew for the last 36 years. At [the United States Conference on AIDS] and in discussions we’ve been having for about a year with internal and external stakeholders, it is clear that people living with HIV are leading the way, and they are more than ready for others to follow.”

To celebrate five years of U=U, PAC held an online discussion on the state of the movement, hosted by Tori Cooper of the Human Rights Campaign and South African HIV activist Mandisa Nikita Dukashe.

“People have been living with HIV and taking their medicine and getting to viral suppression for many, many years and living and loving healthily and wholly without passing HIV to their sexual partners,” Cooper said. “And as a Black trans woman that’s so vitally important because so many folks I knew growing up and so many folks I came out with passed away before they got access to HIV medication or because they couldn’t get to an undetectable viral load.”

The message of U=U will continue to be vital, especially as health disparities among people living with HIV have been laid bare with the COVID crisis. There are still 400,000 people living in the U.S. not virally suppressed, according to PAC. The organization is busy now relaunching its website, which will feature “a state of the art U=U resource database.” PAC hopes that when U=U’s next big anniversary rolls around, there will be something else to celebrate — the end of HIV. H IVPLUS MAG .CO M

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parting shots

brock banks

FROM DRAG QUEEN TO ADULT FILM STAR

W H E N I C A M E out, I was about 17 years old and my family wasn’t super accepting. I kind of ventured off on my own in Miami. I ended up in a bind where I didn’t really have a stable place to stay, and that’s when I met TP [Total Package] Lords, who became my drag mother. One day after the club I was stressed out about where I would sleep and I ended up living with her for a year. She never asked me for any rent or anything; she actually helped me in getting gigs and taught me how to do drag properly.

Before I met her, I had worked at this bar on South Beach called The Palace. I worked there for maybe a year, and there’s this party they do once a year called the Turnabout. Everyone gets into drag for it, and even though I didn’t want to do it, it was a huge moneymaker. So I decided to go all out and hired a girl to do my makeup and I did a full show. The moment that spotlight hit me I became hooked, like this was what I was living for. But when I met TP, she took me under her wing and showed me what was what because my performances were great, but the look was not.

I did drag for eight years under the name Alissa Lords and became one of the top queens in Florida. Then I moved to New Jersey and then New York. I took a break, and when I got sober, I started back. That’s how I met Boomer Banks back in 2015. He was my biggest cheerleader for a while and would film all my gigs and everything. Around this time I enrolled in a beauty school because I always loved wigs. That took me like six months, and I applied and got a job at one of the top salons in Manhattan for five years.

One day I woke up and said, “I’m so sick of working so hard and not being happy with my life” — like my quality of life with being able to travel, and financial stuff. So I reached out to Boomer and people like Austin Wolf and they told me everything about getting into porn. And then it just skyrocketed really quickly.

I became HIV-positive in 2012 while I was still living in Miami.

Part of the reason that I left Miami was I was trying to run from it.

In Miami, still today, there’s a lot of stigma in the Latin community around being positive. A lot of my friends there hide it, or if I talk about it they get very uncomfortable. When I was 22, one of my best friends seroconverted and swore me to secrecy. For years I was the only one who knew he was positive. It was shocking to me because I saw the way that he maneuvered with people sexually and I knew he wasn’t disclosing to people or going to the doctor and taking care of himself. When I seroconverted I went the opposite direction and

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just stopped having sex for like nine months.

The reason that I’m so vocal on social media is because I know that I’m reaching people that I normally would not be able to reach.

So people who are not in my circle or maybe are even in other countries, I’m able to talk to those people when I talk about being positive.

I’m thinking about people like me, when I showed up somewhere and found out I was positive and just got given a pamphlet and no one really talked to me. I was super scared, but then I didn’t do anything to make sure I was healthy. So I’m constantly thinking about how do I talk about stuff in a way that helps someone, even if I’m joking around.

It’s difficult to get work with studios in the porn industry if you’re positive. It doesn’t matter if you’re undetectable or not, a lot of studios won’t hire us to work with models who are not positive. It’s not every studio — that’s part of the reason I like to work with CockyBoys, because they are a consent studio (where a performer signs a waiver that they knowingly consent to a scene with an HIVpositive partner) — but most studios are owned by straight people and the education level in that community is still very, very, low. There’s still this stigma that HIV is this gay disease and straight people don’t want to accept the fact that it’s not and we’re actually not the number one group of people living with HIV. But that impacted me when I started my studio career because I have way less options than most people do when it comes to scene partners and it’s not coming from models, it’s coming from the people hiring us.

As told to Mikelle Street

ALVARO MASA

BROCK BANKS ON THE REALITIES OF BEING A LATINX PERFORMER LIVING WITH HIV.

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join the fight!

Do you care about the future of LGBTQ+ health? Join a community of activists and stand up for health justice with Callen-Lorde! Show up, speak out, and share your story by joining Care with Action - an advocacy program on your terms. Learn more or sign up at callen-lorde.org/action

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TWO WAYS TREATMENT CAN HELP STOP HIV.

Starting HIV treatment as soon as possible and sticking with it every day helps you get to and stay undetectable. That means there is so little virus in the blood that a test can’t measure it.

And that’s a good thing, because:

BEING UNDETECTABLE HELPS STOP THE DAMAGE HIV CAUSES.

CURRENT RESEARCH SHOWS GETTING TO AND STAYING UNDETECTABLE PREVENTS THE SPREAD OF HIV THROUGH SEX.

There’s no cure for HIV, but if you stick with treatment, you can protect yourself and the people you care about. Talk to a healthcare provider and watch It’s Called Treatment as Prevention at YouTube.com/HelpStopTheVirus

GILEAD and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. © 2020 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. UNBC7537 08/20

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