HIV/AIDS has had a huge impact on the LGBTQIA+ communities. Many lives were lost far too young, and medical responses to the virus, in the 1980s and 1990s, were initially slow and under-funded. This was largely because the virus was seen as a ‘gay disease’ and stigma about queer people meant there was not interest in treating it. This door pays tribute to the many activist campaigns and medical breakthroughs which mean that people living with HIV today can have long and healthy lives.
People on active treatment for HIV can have a viral load so low that it is undetectable, and therefore: untransmissable. Undetectable = Untransmissable, or U=U, is a huge medical breakthrough. It means people with HIV can have unprotected sex without passing the virus on. It means HIV positive people can become parents of HIV negative children. There is also a medication called PrEP which can be taken preventatively, so that a person without HIV would not become HIV positive even if they were exposed to the virus.
A lot of stigma still remains, and a lot of people don’t know about U=U or PrEP. METRO Charity supports people living with HIV, from LGBTQIA+ peer support groups to family services.
All the Sparkle in the Park Doors
Photo credit: Doug Southwall, Pepper Pictures
