#LivingWithHIV Bicho and I and the words: "How would you prefer I call you?"
When it comes to putting this into words, it's time to take responsibility: for the many possibilities, the intersections, and the variations that exist. There are as many as there are people.
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By Lucas Fauno Gutiérrez (script and text) and Jon Amarillo (drawings)
I've been living with Bicho for almost ten years. In that time, I learned terminology, awareness, and so much more about the virus. I understood the importance of many words. I'm not sick; I live with a virus. I'm not a carrier because I don't "carry" weapons. HIV is the virus, and AIDS is a related stage. And so on. But of course, this took me time.
So when someone comes up to me and says, “How long have you been sick?” or “You look pretty good for someone who’s HIV-positive,” my first reaction is to turn into a Tasmanian Devil. But no. Because even before my diagnosis, I could have said something similar. And while I may know a lot about HIV, sometimes it becomes clear how little I know about other topics, like disability, for example.
My friend Flor uses a wheelchair, and I recently interviewed her . She made me realize how much we still lack, especially the empathy we're lacking on this and other issues. Listening, asking questions, not taking things for granted, getting informed, sharing doubts respectfully, not with impunity and disrespect.
It's time to take responsibility: for the many possibilities, the intersections, and the variations that exist when it comes to naming things. There are as many as there are people. We can, we must, allow ourselves to demystify and share everything, the good and the not-so-good. We are here to walk together. Together.
Visit Presentes every Thursday to find a new installment of Bicho and me.
Bicho and I #31: With HIV they want me "healthy": I prefer to be a monster
Bicho and I #30: It's not our World Cup, HIV is not a game
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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