- [Producer] What are your thoughts on HIV?
- Sadness.
- Hope.
- It's life changing.
When I was diagnosed in 1987, it was a death sentence,
but not anymore.
- [Producer] Is it something
you're comfortable talking about?
- [All] Yes.
- I certainly wouldn't say, "Hey, I'm HIV!"
But if someone asked me the question,
I have no qualms talking about it
because if I can help someone go through that path
that I've taken, I feel good about that.
- [Producer] What is HIV?
- It's a virus and it attacks your immune system,
I believe it's the white blood cells, and destroys them.
- [Producer] Do you recall when you first heard about it?
- In the late '70s, the early '80s,
I remember people coming down with this disease,
first of all, and people didn't know what was happening
and people didn't know how it was being transmitted.
- I can remember going down
to the Castro restaurants for breakfast
and there would be this hush talk about,
"Did you hear that such and such
"is sick with this new gay cancer?"
- I lost about 80% of my friends
and the sad part about that
was a lot of my friends didn't even tell me.
They'd keep it hidden.
And it was all of a sudden you said,
"Oh, did you know that Bob died?"
And you'd go, "Oh no, I didn't even know he was sick."
- [Producer] Can you describe what the environment was like?
- Fear.
- It was a very tragic time
because you were just surrounded by death.
- It was sad, it was painful. There was no hope.
- [Producer] Do any of you have personal experiences
with HIV you're comfortable sharing?
- Yeah, I tested positive in 2001
and that was in a very bad time in my life
in which I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time
and I made the wrong choice.
I'll tell you what my physician said to me though.
He said, "I don't see any reason
"with the treatments that we have available to us
"that you couldn't live for another 25 years."
And I learned then that the most important thing
is to take your medications every day.
Because that will give you the chance
for a good quality of life.
- [Producer] How did it impact your life
throughout the past few decades?
- To live each day to its fullest.
- [Producer] Was there any stigma?
- Well, the only stigma was is that I didn't talk about it.
A lot of people don't understand it,
a lot of people don't understand about it today.
- It's easier to talk about it today
than it was 30 years ago, that's for sure.
- You know, people like to read the bad press.
You don't look at the success stories.
- [Producer] And you guys are success stories.
- Yeah.
- Still alive. (chuckles)
- [Producer] What is it like living with HIV today?
- It's just a part of my life.
- It's just making sure that your body
is still tuned in to the medications you're taking.
- [Producer] How has it changed from back then?
- It's not a death sentence.
- [Producer] Can you talk about treatment
and being undetectable?
- Undetectable means
that the viral load in your body
is so low that it cannot be measured by current tests.
- If you're undetectable,
it means you cannot transmit the virus.
- [Producer] Are there any misconceptions
you want people to know about?
- I see it on dating sites where a lot of guys say
that they only want healthy people,
which is a code word,
I don't want anybody who's HIV-positive in my life.
Which suggests to me
that they don't understand what's going on.
They don't understand anything about the virus
and they're the ones with the bias and the misconception.
- I'm not a carrier of disease.
I have this condition, I'm being treated for it.
I'm at the stage where I cannot transmit it,
I'm unable to, my body won't do it,
and so, you know, I'm a safe bet.
And I'll say this, just from experience,
the guys who are positive and who are non-transmissible,
they're the hot guys.
(men chuckle)
- [Producer] What did you think of this experience?
- To me, it was awkward.
- I found myself more uncomfortable
than I thought I would be.
- Yes.
- I've learned a lot.
- [Producer] How did it make you feel?
- It's kinda
reliving a lot of experiences of the past
and just gives more perspective on what you've been through.
- The blinded eyes have been opened.
I think it'll be good for our younger people
who are watching us all the time to go,
"Oh, it was like that."
- [Producer] Is there any advice you have
for anyone learning about HIV for the first time?
- This is a disease which,
with the proper attention and treatment,
you can do something about.
You can mitigate.
- Be proactive and see your doctor.
- [Producer] Any final thoughts?
- I've got three words. Courage plus compassion equals love.