NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Feb. 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, where advocates emphasize the disproportionate impact of the virus on the Black community and the stigma that discourages people from getting tested.
At 19 years old, LaTanya Killingworth’s life changed after taking her nephew to a doctor. Someone working at the clinic was passing out condoms, asking if anyone wanted to get tested for any sexually transmitted infections.
“I had just started having sex at 18, so I raised my hand,” Killingworth said.
At the time, HIV tests took two weeks to get the results. “I had forgotten all about it,” until someone from the clinic called, asking her to come in to get her results. “She gave me the news, and I burst out laughing. Not that I thought it was funny, I think that was like a nervous reaction or something.”
She recalled crying on the way home, “I was so scared that it was like I had ‘HIV’ written across my forehead and everybody that I was looking at, that was passing me by, I was like, ‘Do they know?'”
Fear set in, and she questioned what kind of life she would live. “I thought my life was over.”
After getting home, she received a call from the clinic to check in and set her up with care. “Back then, you didn’t automatically take medicine. They waited until you became sick.” She didn’t start medication until she was pregnant with her oldest child.
Since her diagnosis, she has lived a relatively full life: “I was able to go to school, I have kids, I got married. Still living, still here. It’s not really the HIV that’s bothering me, it’s the depression, it’s the anxiety that gets me, but I’m still here.”
When asked if she could give her younger self a message, Killingworth said, “I had a lot more life to live. So, be cautious. When you’re young, you think you’re invincible, you think nothing can happen to you. But, yeah, stuff happens.”
The way HIV is often portrayed makes it difficult for some people to seek care. Killingworth noted HIV was considered “a gay man’s disease.” Although opinions have changed, “People’s feedback is still negative to this day. The stigma is stiffening. It’s so prevalent in the African American community.”
Rev. Gregory Manning with Broadmoor Community Church explained, “People relate it to sin issues,” sometimes, those messages come from church leaders. “A lot of churches will make people feel that they got HIV because God is somehow punishing them, and that’s absolutely incorrect. It is not fair; it is not godly or Christian in any way to make people feel that way.”
Manning emphasized there are certainly consequences to not protecting yourself, “but no one’s being punished by getting HIV. That is a miseducation of people.”
But the spread of misinformation is not the only problem, “so often pastors don’t even want to mention it, and that’s an issue.” He suggests, “The church has a responsibility to educate African American people, really all people, on how to protect themselves against HIV and really do what we can to eradicate the stigma that goes along so often with HIV.”
He adds that it’s also up to parents to educate their children, “People need to not be afraid to talk to their children about it, talk to their children about sex, talk to their children about making sure that they have a partner who has disclosed what they’re going through, and making sure people don’t have to feel embarrassed about their status.”
Tavell Kindall, director of HIV Prevention and Treatment at St. Thomas Community Health Center, explained, “The biggest weapon that we have against stigma is education. Having conversations in communities that are most impacted and helping them to understand that you don’t have to be ashamed. There is treatment that is safe and effective.”
Thanks to advances in medicine, the survival rate for people diagnosed with HIV at an early stage has grown exponentially. “HIV is not a death sentence. It’s not a cliché statement. It really is a true statement.”
For more information on HIV, resources, and free testing, visit the Bounce to Zero website.
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