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May 19 is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and World Hepatitis Day. This blog post is one of a series on the impact of HIV and Hepatitis B in Asian & Pacific Islander communities. As A&PIs, you may not believe that you are at risk for these diseases, but you are. Follow our posts throughout the week for different perspectives and stories from our community.
I have been a HIV Counselor/ Tester and Outreach Worker for almost 10 years now. For the past six years I have been working for the Life Foundation which is the largest HIV/AIDS service organization in Hawaii. I find that many Native Hawaiian Men and Local Men are ashamed of being Gay or Bisexual. With the shame of being gay comes the stigma and shame of HIV.
HIV started to hit Hawaii in the early 80s. I remember my mom telling me that HIV is punishment for being gay when I was 6 years old. The same and stigma of HIV and being gay is still around today. Many friends of mine are afraid to tell their family of being gay. If they feel ashamed of being gay then how are they supposed to tell their family they have HIV? This issue is the same for many of the local men I talk to in HIV counseling and outreach settings. I know of other straight local people who will not step into our office or access free services because they are ashamed of their HIV status. A lot of the people I work with only get support for being HIV positive or being gay from agencies like the Life Foundation.
It is because or campaigns like May 19th National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS awareness day that helped bring in Hawaii’s Local People to receive counseling, education, and finding out their status. Through the Banyan Tree Projects event our agency got to do almost 20 HIV and Hep C tests out in the community. Through the advertising of the event many people came into our office to be tested as well. A majority of the tests that were done because of the event were Asian and Pacific Islanders. I feel that the people involved in the event are doing a great job of bringing awareness for HIV on a national and international level. I also hope that the event grows in the future and inspires other events to help serve Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
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| User | Points |
|---|---|
| curtis | 1928 |
| ebeh | 1161 |
| Madhuri | 1145 |
| erinjerri | 1074 |
| spamfriedrice | 551 |
| oliveoil | 457 |
| Calvin Prashad | 358 |
| JennyG | 281 |
| jenn | 219 |
| chriswong | 155 |
i am glad to know that i am not alone in this process. Growing up as a native hawaiian here in the islands, homosexuality was not common in my household. I played the part of the straight boy but deep inside of me in knew i was gay. I came out when i was 21 years old and it was hard. As i got older i realized that i was not alone i the process of growing up gay in Hawaii. I came across the life foundation and they helped me come to terms with my sexuality and also gave me the education i needed to keep myself clean and safe. so big mahalos to them..
Get Tested Girl
It was in New York City 1992 when I tested positive for hepatitis c. I had no knowledge about hepatitis and did nothing about it because I was felt so much shame. In 2007 I took another hepatitis c test at Life Foundation and felt the support of other pacific islander TGs who encouraged me to get treatment. I realized that TGs are at very high risk for HIV and hepatitis c because of our lifestyle and different types of beauty treatments we may receive with unsterile needles. I finished the treatment and I want other A&PI TGs to understand the importance of getting tested and treated.
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