Get Yourself TESTED!
Tomorrow, June 27, 2009 is National HIV testing day in the US. Lots of places are doing FREE HIV testing, and I’ve even included a site below to find the closest place for YOU to get tested. No excuses. Hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed with new cases of HIV every year, and more go undiagnosed because they didn’t get tested. HIV does not discriminate. It is not a gay man’s disease. It is not an African-American disease. It is not a single people’s, or a multiple partnered people’s or a poverty disease. It infects people of all genders, sexualities, abilities, races, socio-economic levels, etc. (PS, this includes lesbians – I’ve had some friends who have been told that dykes can’t get it. This is bullshit). Please, take care of yourself and get tested. Tomorrow is as good of a day as any, so let’s do it!
National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US) to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 180,000 to 280,000 people nationwide are HIV-positive but are unaware of their status. HIV counseling and testing enables people with HIV to take steps to protect their own health and that of their partners, and helps people who test negative get the information they need to stay uninfected.
Across the country, thousands of HIV counseling and testing sites, state and local health departments, and community-based HIV/AIDS service providers will participate in NHTD events, by holding health fairs, providing community and media outreach, hosting special testing-related events or operating extended hours.
I get tested every 6 months, and that’s with practicing safer sex as much as possible (I hate dams, so have fucked up with that a few times. I’m only human), and I’ll be getting my ass out to get tested tomorrow…and I expect all of you to go get tested! If you have any good or interesting experiences getting tested, let me know!
-Essin’ Em
Find out where YOU can get tested near you
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Got tested last week and saw a guy from my law school. He looked stressed out. My former partner and I looked like we didn’t want to be there, and so did the rest of the waiting room. Kinda awkward, but well worth it. Good job supporting AIDS awareness! Yes, lesbians CAN contract AIDS and other STDs if fluids are being exchanged. No one is immune who is not 100% abstinent.