{"id":670,"date":"2013-05-30T20:17:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T20:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savinglivesuk.com\/?p=391"},"modified":"2013-05-30T20:17:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T20:17:54","slug":"we-cant-afford-to-be-afraid-of-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondpositive.org\/sluktest\/we-cant-afford-to-be-afraid-of-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"We Can’t Afford to be Afraid of Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a simple choice for me, I stand up for what I believe in and I\u2019m one of those people<\/em> who want to get involved in causes that represent my life and who I am as a person, that doesn\u2019t mean I have to become the issues, I\u2019m still me.<\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t stand apathy, I hate people who don\u2019t believe in activism or standing up for rights because they don\u2019t think a certain issue affects them, or for the belief that they can rise above prejudice on their own. We\u2019re not where we are today because people sat at home in quiet, silent protest. You have to, you need<\/strong> to, get up and out and SHOUT!<\/p>\n

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Whilst I was studying I got involved in a lot of different groups and associations, probably too many, but it was something I felt that I had a duty to do, there are plenty of people throughout the world who don\u2019t have these opportunities open to them, they live in countries where to be gay or lesbian is still illegal, where \u2018Pride\u2019 is banned or where violent crime against groups of society is still common and largely ignored by the law. With HIV it\u2019s different, it\u2019s not just a duty because I\u2019m in a better position to be able to be open about my status and campaign for change, by being an activist fighting for HIV causes you can save lives.<\/p>\n

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HIV thrives on ignorance, people would still believe (and many are still under that impression) it\u2019s a disease that only infects gay men. HIV loves fear, if you\u2019re afraid to get tested then the virus has a better chance of spreading through the population, through sexual encounters, mother to unborn child or from addicts sharing needles. HIV breeds stigma: people will judge and look down on people living with HIV, and this should not be tolerated. The ignorance, the fear, the stigma, they all intertwine and drive the virus to multiply with ease.<\/p>\n

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So it\u2019s not enough to sit down and think, \u2018this doesn\u2019t affect me\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m over it\u2019, because HIV isn\u2019t over, and until it is there\u2019s a job to be getting on with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a simple choice for me, I stand up for what I believe in and I\u2019m one of those people who want to get involved in causes that represent my life and who I am as a person, that doesn\u2019t mean I have to become the issues, I\u2019m still me. I can\u2019t stand apathy, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alexs-blog","category-news","category-positive-people"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t