By Lucas Fauno Gutiérrez (script and text) Jon Amarillo (illustrations)

There will be no celebrity songs for this cause. Countries and their flags will not proudly parade in the name of the struggle. There will be no new celebrations, no victory, because we continue to lose.

Neither the World Cup nor football is to blame. These are simply an event and a sport that attract both responsible and irresponsible people. The World Cup is just another excuse to look away from the streets where we march, protesting and demanding change.

And meanwhile, we suffer on the field. While bureaucracies, egos, and human negligence persist, the virus continues to advance. For 35 years we have lived knowing the name of HIV, and we have gone from demanding a cure to demanding an end to discrimination, updated laws, access to medication, and more.

It's also worth evaluating our responsibility, our actions and inaction. Not to punish ourselves, but to know where we stand in this game.

We'll never be mainstream , we'll never be the endorsement of a big brand, and that's never going to stop us. This isn't a game, and we certainly can't afford to be divided. This is reality, and we're going to win it, no matter what.

(By the way, if they ever make a soundtrack for us, I want it to sound like the one for Italy '90, sorry Shakira but I still don't understand Waka Waka)

 

Visit Presentes every Thursday to find a new installment of Bicho and me.

Bicho and I #29: Bicho and I against the patriarchy: “It’s going to fall! Or better yet: we’re going to knock it down!”

Bicho and I #28: Laying the cards on the table

Bicho and I #27: The drama of the "little prick"

Bicho and I #26: Debts and progress 35 years after HIV

Bicho and I #25: #LivingWithHIV Bicho and I: From Words to Deeds

Bug and I #24: In the medical world, containment is everything

Bicho and I #23: “No one is obligated to say they live with HIV”

Bug and Me #22: Until the cure, always!

Bicho and I #21: Take a hug 

Bicho and I #19 go to the movies: 120 beats per minute

Bug and Me #18: Your question is annoying

Bicho and I #17: “Yes, I live with a strain of HIV”

Bug and I #16 “It’s not contagious!”

Bicho and I #15: #8M Three women living with HIV explain why they stop

Bicho and I #14: #LivingWithHIV “Where is Bicho?”

Bicho and I #13: “We are not carriers”

Bicho and I #12: “How can you not tell me you have a Bicho?”

Bicho and I #11: HIV and AIDS are not the same

BichoYYo#10: Bicho, me and medication: “People with HIV are much more than a pill”

BichoYYo #9: We urgently need our medication

Bicho and I #8 The Dangers of Activism

Bug and I #7 Superpowers for an X-Men cover

Bicho and I #6 “Happy New Year!”

Bicho and I #5: “Nine years with Bicho”

Bug and I #4: “The scapegoat”

Bicho and I #3 “Without Grindr there is no paradise”

Bicho and I #2 “The best thing about medication”

Bicho and I #1: the comic strip that tells in the first person what it's like to live with HIV

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