Phoebe

TRANSCRIPT:

Being black and being trans, we are disproportionately affected, and I think that because it goes so under the radar and it’s not spoken about enough, we suffer exponentially.

Last year, three of my friends died from HIV-related complications. I had a deep connection to them, I felt there was a need to speak about that.

They made a conscious decision not to take the medication because of the stigma around being HIV positive, taking the medication, stigma plays a big part with people, and I think that with them, they allowed it to control their life, period. Snuffed them out.

When I decided to transition, I ran off. I had had as much as I could take. I was looking for jobs, I was trying to get hired, I was doing as much as I could. It was a dead end, so I just, you know, I decided to do what I had to do.

I started escorting as a homeless person. There wasn’t always condoms available. I went to jail a couple times and upon getting out of jail, I decided something needed to change.

I started going to a drop-in center for LGBT youth. I started coming to them and asking them, “Well, what is this, what is that, what is PrEP?”

PrEP is the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, it protects you from HIV. It doesn’t protect from other STIs, of course, but it keeps you from having to get HIV.

The reason why I decided to get on PrEP is because I know that alcohol makes me less than stellar [laughs] and I know that, you know, certain situations I don’t think about safe sex. Certain situations I don’t think about wrapping it up and making sure that everybody’s protected.

And with that backup it’s just one more tool in my arsenal, one more shield, you know?

I am slowing building myself up and that feels amazing.