Justin B. Terry-Smith has been involved in LGBTQ and HIV Activism since 1999. He is an Air Force 9/11 Disabled Vet. Raised in Silver Spring, MD, he now lives in Albuequerque, New Meixco with his husband Phil. He writes an HIV/STI Advice Column for A&U Magazine, is a Contributing writer for thebody.com, a Life Coach and an Adjunct Professor. He has earned his Doctorate in Public Health with a concentration in Infectious Disease and his Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
One of my favorite places as of right now is Puerto
Rico. I was there because I am currently
in school for my Doctorate in Public Health at Walden University. I had a choice between Puerto Rico or
Tampa. Of course I choose Puerto
Rico. I took my husband Philip and left
the kids at home. We need some time for
a vacation. Honestly when I was diagnosed
with HIV I didn’t expect to live this long or be in school for a Doctoral
degree and I have one more year left. My
husband has really been my rock and inspiration.
We stayed in a cute hotel named the Coral Princess,
not far from the Beach in Condado (Santurce).
Condado (Santurce) is a great place.
It has the population of a little over 6,000 and has a big gay community
It was just an amazing beautiful area.
We also went Boquerón, Cabo Rojo which was amazing. Boquerón is a beach village located in the
city of Cabo Rojo. The village is one of
the main tourist attractions in the southwestern part of the island, which has
an awesome gay community. The population
there is about 5,000. We saw the salt
beaches there and walked along the beach.
We then went to Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Viejo San Juan or Old
San Juan it was so festive and beautiful.
One of my favorite places was El Yunque National Forest. It was my first time being in a Rain Forest
it was absolutely a wondrous time, I felt like a little boy in a candy
store. When then stayed at the Sheraton
in San Juan at the end of our trip.
HIV should not dictate where you can’t go but you can
let it take you to places you’ve never been.
I was so distraught 10 years ago when I was diagnosed, but I turned
around and got back on my feet. I now I know
that I can still go places I can still enjoy life.
The Food and Drug Administration has lifted its ban on blood donations from gay men. The ban has been in place for 32 years. So yeah we can give blood now. Thank you to the FDA. BUT there is a stipulation. To give blood to the FDA you must be abstinent for one year prior to giving blood. Hmmmmmmmm no sex for a year……nope sorry not me. The abstinent rule is also in place in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia. The ban was put into place during the early years of the AIDS crisis. With medicine and science making strides activist and medical group see the ban as unjustifiable.
Charlie Sheen
announced he is HIV positive. During the
interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today” shows, saying that he wanted to put
a stop “to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks.”
He had paid
millions to keep people quiet and has faced lawsuits from previous
partners. Sheen said that he will not be
paying anyone any more money after today because he has disclosed publically. The news had already received this story the
day before his disclosure.
The 50 year
old actor admits to hiring prostitutes and extensive drug use, which was made
public by tabloids and newspapers.
This story
proves that HIV is not a gay or black issue.
HIV is a global public health issue.
By disclosing on his own I hope this gives him empowerment and
inspiration to help others in the future with their HIV diagnosis. Currently Sheen is on a four pill a day HIV
medication regimen and is currently undetectable.
When asked
whether he would stop drinking, Mr. Sheen said that “perhaps the freedom of
today may lead to that as well.”
My hopes for
Sheen is that he lives a long healthy life and to let him know that now you are
a part of community that can empower you to be the best Charlie Sheen you can
be. I back Charlie Sheen.
On the Oprah:
Where Are The Now? 39 years old former child star of the show Who's the Boss? Danny Pintauro, came out
this past weekend as HIV positive. It
turns out that Pintauro has been living with HIV for 12 years. One the show Who’s the Boss? Pintauro
played the role of Johnathan. When
Pintauro was 17 he came out as gay while attending Stanford University. A tabloid forced him to come out because they
were going to run with the story about his sexuality whether he liked it or
not. Pintauro stated this about the
forced outing, "I missed the opportunity to be a beacon of light for gay
kids who were going through what I was going through because I was outed; it
wasn't by choice,” This time Pintauro is
coming out as HIV positive and wanted to do it when he was ready. When learning about his HIV status Pintauro
said this, "You've spent so much time terrified that you're going to get
it," he says, "and then you have it, and you don't have to be
terrified anymore."
Pintauro is now happily married to Wil Tabares. The
couple married in 2014.
2015 marked the beginning of a new era in the evolution of HIV. Of the estimated 1.2 million Americans with HIV, one-thirdare over 50 years old; within 2015, half of the total HIV-positive population will be over 50 years old.[i]
The exhibit, curated in collaboration with Walgreens and The Graying of AIDS, focuses on the challenges and triumphs of this aging HIV community through captivating portraits and insightful testimonials.
The Well Beyond HIV art exhibit will be on public display September 10th an 11th from 11am-6pm at the Carnegie Library – Literary Hall, 801 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 – We encourage you to stop by if you have a chance.
If interested we ask that you also encourage your followers to:
It is official I’ve earned my Master’s in Public Health. Now I can officially say I’m a Public Health
professional. After 2 ½ years of school
work I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplished. It was a big goal for me to finally get this
obstacle out of way. Having HIV I want
you all to know you cannot let it get in your way.
REACH YOUR GOAL AND MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME
TRUE.
People need to understand that HIV
is NOT the end of your life. You need to
keep moving and live your life to the best of your abilities. When I
found out I had HIV school was the furthest thing from my mind. But now it has helped me get a new job that
is amazing. I am now a Global Public
Health Analyst. As a present my loving
husband bought me a new car. He is an
amazing man and has stuck by me through my Associates and Bachelor’s degree as
well.
GRADUATION IS IN JULY IN BALTIMORE!!
But most of you know I can’t stop there I will be attempting
to earn my Doctorate in Public Health.
I
got a notification on my phone from my Grindr application so I click on it to
check the message. This guy immediately
started with, “Really Justin?” I then didn't understand what he was referring to, so I replied, “Really what?” He then went on to say that he was disappointed
in me for having my HIV status at the bottom of my Grindr profile and that I
was once his hero and etc. I just couldn't believe this. All I could do was block
the immaturity out and off my phone.
1)There are people on Grindr that don’t even say their status
2)One of the first things I put is that I’m married and that
my husband knows I have this application on my phone
3)It’s really none of your business what I’m doing in my own
bedroom but I’m open about my HIV status to all sexual partners – FYI.
4)If the basis of me not being your role model HIV positive
activist is that my status is at the bottom of my Grindr profile than find
another HIV activist to follow because you've been following me for the wrong
reasons.
The article
below can be found on Baltimore Gay Life Newspaper:
Many
people this holiday season will get what they want and what they don’t want. My
gift to you this year, dear reader, is the gift of purity. Many of us think of
the word purity and automatically think of virginity. I am by no means a
virgin, and neither are the majority of you reading this column. With that idea
in mind, I ask – why on earth do we engage in slut shaming?
At
the recent Mr. Maryland Leather contest one of the contestants gave a speech
about slut shaming in the gay community and I was truly touched. He talked
about how two of his friends had committed suicide because of the constant slut
shaming (which is another form of bullying) they endured from their so-called
friends.
As
I do every year, I took the stage with all the former Mr. Maryland Leathers,
and as my name was being called I heard the words, “Whore” being yelled at me.
I stopped and realized that this was not right because to look on my husband’s
face was the look of embarrassment and shame. When the contest was over, I
marched up to those three people and told them to stop slut shaming me. The
whole time I thought to myself this doesn’t just affect me but it affects my
husband. If they don’t have any respect for me at least respect my husband and
in turn respect my marriage. I really didn’t deserve it, neither did my husband
or my son.
For
HIV negative people, slut shaming can lead to a lowered self-esteem, which
could make them at greater risk of contracting HIV. Having people shame you
because of your sexual appetites only leads you to keep them secret and pushes
them back into the closet. This also can be said for people who use
preventative measure like Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). People think because
you are on PrEP means that you do not use a condom and you have promiscuous sex,
which is not the case at all because this is a form of HIV prevention.
People
will do with their own bodies as they would like and it is not up to us to tell
them what to do. It takes two (sometimes more) to tango and if it’s consensual
then who the hell are you to tell them what they cannot do.
I suggest to all of you reading this column to keep that in mind before
you shame someone into thinking that what they do sexually is wrong. People
need to wake up to the ways of the world and get their head out of their
behinds and other people’s personal lives; because frankly it’s none of your
damn slut shaming business
