While in recent years HIV has become a controlled pathology that is not serious and countless studies show that effective treatment means that people who carry the virus do not transmit it, society has lagged behind.
Stigma remains between our HIV-positive bodies and, with it, rejection.
HIV-positive bodies face rejection in every personal interaction when this status is and/or should be revealed. This leads HIV+ people to live with anguish their HIV status, to concealment and fear.
But this discrimination is not only on a personal level. According to a study by the Legal Clinic of the Faculty of Law of the University of Alcalá and CESIDA during 2015, the majority of the cases of discrimination faced by HIV-positive people in Spain are: access to public employment (State Security Forces); access to services (contracting insurance and private services); confidentiality of personal data and violation of the right to privacy (disclosure of serological status and submission to HIV testing).
Much remains to be done to ensure that HIV-positive bodies are not marked with a “rejected”.

Performative action against HIV stigma.

HIV is a chronic disease that is not more serious under appropriate supervision and treatment. HIV-positive people on undetectable viral load do not transmit the virus.
Yet our society continues to make HIV-positive people invisible under stigma and taboo. Thus they become undetectable bodies.

HIV has evolved from a deadly disease to a manageable disease with a good quality of life and favorable prognosis. Yes, in rich countries, because in poor countries people continue to die of AIDS. Let’s make a toast to those dead that Big Pharma leaves behind with the blocking of drugs through the patent system. Let us also drink to its great benefits and then put on a red ribbon.