Gay London Life | Aug '25 Edition - Magazine - Page 24
Photo by @Macleodimages @CraidMacleod
Health & Wellbeing
Hi, I am Taofique.
I live a good life, and I‘m so
I am HIV +.
grateful for all of my blessings.
I am living with HIV.
But it hasn’t been without its
I take a pill a day.
challenges, and most recently, my
I have an undetectable viral load.
physical, mental and emotional
I can not pass the virus on.
fitness have been put to the test.
Undetectable = Untransmitable
Today and (God willing) tomorrow,
I’ve never actually shared
I’m choosing to celebrate a more
my HIV status outside of some of
profound love for myself and to
my immediate family and friends.
see myself as a whole. Why are
It’s important to remember that a
these topics so hard to discuss?
person living with HIV doesn’t have
I’m not sure, but I do know that
to share their status with anyone!
stigma can only persist as long as
Everyone deserves the right to keep
society sustains it, and that healing
their health information private, and
and transformation can be both
it’s entirely up to them whether and
beautiful and challenging.
when they want to discuss it.
I invite you to join me in
Why now? HIV, stigma, fear,
shame, and anxiety have all
and stigma. Speak your truth,
had quite an impact on my life,
authentically and find freedom,
destructive yet transformative,
whether it’s about living with HIV,
isolating while uniting!
supporting someone who does, or
Stigma of any kind doesn’t
An Open
Letter
Inspired by the upcoming UK Black Pride, our health
and wellness coach, Taofique Folarin opens his heart
and pens a personal missive to our readers
breaking the silence around HIV
any experience with stigma.
disappear overnight. But silence
Let’s create a community
has never protected me the way I
where we uplift each other with
thought it would. So, if you’re reading
understanding. I’ve learned that
this and you understand— if you’ve
celebrating myself, flaws and all,
ever felt that tension in your body
is a radical act of resistance, and
when you wanted to speak up but
I practice self-love by engaging in
didn’t — I want you to know: you’re
activities that nourish my soul, like
not alone. We’re in this together.
art and music. To anyone out there
And our truths? They matter, even
facing a new diagnosis or for any
when they’re messy, even when we
other reason, please be kind and
whisper them, even when we’re still
patient with yourself, and trust the
figuring them out.
process. It may not be easy, but
The fact is, HIV treatment
it will make you stronger. Help is
and prevention have improved
available, and you don’t have to do
dramatically, and while the goal of
it alone. In a world where hate and
zero new transmissions by 2030
ignorance spread, you deserve a
is within reach, stigma remains.
chance to fly, too.
Thanks to science and activism, my
Together, we can create a
pill a day keeps me alive! I am aware
world where love, acceptance,
of my privilege in having access to
and understanding prevail. Let’s
this treatment, and I recognise the
continue to share our truths and
impact on those who don’t. Maybe
support one another on this
I don’t think about it enough, but I
journey. I salute those who keep
should, we all should, as it is so easy
moving despite! That keep loving
to take for granted.
despite! That share despite! And
Can we find a pill for stigma,
that exist despite!
please? Or an injection? Stigma is
And to all those that came
universal and has had me feeling
before me, those still to come, those
unwanted, unworthy and unlovable.
we have lost, and those we may lose.
Whatever intersection it attaches
Love & Light,
itself to — sexuality, race, gender,
Taofique
survivorship, mental health,
addiction, disability.
@TaofiqueFolarin
Living with HIV Resources:
gmipartnership.org.uk
doitlondon.org
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