#BichoYYo: "We're not finished, we're present, with information and action"
The YouTube window overlooks a swampy landscape. We peer in and see a dinosaur wielding the authority of the medical system delivering a dangerous message: “The condom breaks, it’s punctured, and that guy’s finished.” It stigmatizes and spreads fear. It lies.
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By Lucas Fauno Gutiérrez (script and text) and Jon Amarillo (drawings)
The YouTube window overlooks a swampy landscape. We peer in and see a dinosaur wielding the authority of the medical system delivering a dangerous message: “The condom breaks, it’s punctured, and that guy’s finished.” It stigmatizes and spreads fear. It lies.
If you think you've been exposed to HIV for any reason, whether through an injury, a broken condom, or another situation, you're not out of luck. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is medication available free of charge at any public hospital. It helps prevent the virus from taking hold in your body. It's important to start taking it within 72 hours of exposure. The treatment lasts almost a month and must be followed. Medical staff are required to provide you with all the necessary information; it's your right.
And if you ever test positive for HIV, you won't be finished. You can live well while HIV positive. What you can't do is allow someone in a position of medical authority to spread lies. Their actions are neither accidental nor innocent. Covering the virus in prejudice and fear has nothing to do with HIV itself, but rather with the desire to indoctrinate our bodies, our desires, and our freedom.
We are not finished, we are present, with information and action.
Visit Presentes every Thursday to find a new installment of Bicho and me.
Bicho and I #33: Bicho and I to Dr. Abel Albino: “AIDS is not a virus, your words are”
Bicho and I #32: #LivingWithHIV Bicho and I and the words: “How would you prefer I call you?”
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
We are Present
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