Reason #5: Because Lance isn't HIV+ (as far as I know)

Lance Armstrong's comeback from testicular cancer to win the Tour de France more times than anyone ever thought possible is one of the most motivational, feel-good stories of the past twenty years.  And then, as if that weren't already enough, he's used his cycling to raise dozens, maybe hundreds, of millions of dollars for cancer related services.  The man's face and name and yellow rubber bracelets are some of the most recognizable, iconic images of the 21st century.  In fact, I heard from a friend of a friend that Chuck Norris wears a special bracelet that reads, "WWLD?"

Which makes me wonder: How much money would Lance have been able to raise if the diagnosis weren't cancer, but HIV?  Of the people and companies that stood by him when it looked like his racing days were over, how many would have still been there if he had announced he was HIV+ as the result of unprotected sex or sharing needles?  Nobody can say for sure, but my spidey sense tells me that the answer is something along the lines of, "a whole lot less." 

Although some cancers are correlated with specific risk factors, for the most part cancer is perceived as a disease that could strike anyone at anytime.  You don't have to do anything to get cancer and there's not a whole lot you can do to avoid it.  Consequently, there's very little stigma attached to being cancer+.  Now contrast that to the history and common perception of HIV and AIDS in the US.  Yeah, pretty different.

In part, it's thinking about stuff like that that motivates me to be such an ardent HIV/AIDS activist.  The fact that people who contract HIV tend to be some of the most marginalized, least powerful, and therefore least supported members of our community really, really torques me off.  I mean, come on, why does it matter who it is that's suffering?  Suffering is suffering, dude.  For me, this imbalance of regard and care for the HIV+ and at-risk-of-contracting-HIV community is especially maddening because unlike with cancer, we are 100% certain about how HIV is spread and it's 100% preventable. So with just a little more effort from The Man we really could have a very significant effect on reducing HIV's impact in our communities.

There is something about this unfairness of regard and treatment and funding for everything HIV as well as the lingering stigma attached to being HIV+ that obviously resonates very strongly with me.  But I always feel inadequate to the task of trying to characterize it accurately to others or even myself.  The best I can do is point to everything I do now and have done for the NorCal AIDS Cycle and the AIDS LifeCycle before that and say that all of that work and training is an attempt to somehow understand and soothe these intense feelings of anger and injustice that well up inside of me anytime I think about HIV and AIDS.