#AIDSAgeism: AIDS In The Age of Growing Older (Updated)

AIDSagesism - AIDS In The Age of Growing Older - update

UPDATE: As the International AIDS Conferencer 2018 winds down in Amsterdam concludes today, Realize Canada’s Tammy C. Yates and Kate Murzin share video of their powerful takeaways from The Netherlands. Scroll to the end to view.

****************

If you’re a gay man over 50 you’ve probably faced verbal rejection on dating / hookup apps. It usually goes something like this:

“So how old are you?” To which you respond with your real (or possibly your “online age”). If they’re kind they might politely decline, saying you’re handsome or good looking for your age, but they’re looking for someone younger. Worst case, you’re ghosted or the conversation moves from interested to repugnant.

Now add to the narrative above being HIV+ and you get HIV + Ageism – a discouraging mix that ostracizes and stigmatizes many adults who have lived, healthily, for the last one, two, or almost three decades, thanks to protease inhibitors and continual advances in HIV treatment that improve their lives. By the way, this is the first generation of adults, post epidemic, to actually live long enough to see old age.

#AIDSAgeism

Realize Canada is an organization that fosters positive change for people living with episodic health conditions, including HIV. Realize recently launched a new, time sensitive campaign to fight #AIDSAgeism at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam this July.

Realize Canada

Realize had planned to organize an information and networking zone in the Global Village at the AIDS Conference, to discuss what it means to age with HIV, but they were turned down by the organizers.

Ageism is a persistent problem that cuts across many of the important issues of our time, and the world’s response to HIV and AIDS is no exception!

One in four people diagnosed with HIV in Canada is 50 or older.
In many communities (in Canada, the US and Western Europe), the majority of people living with HIV are older adults.

Despite these facts, older adults living with HIV are being overlooked in health strategies, planning and policy-making. Their unique experiences are being forgotten, and the evolving health and social uncertainties they face are barely on the radar.

To create awareness for older adults with HIV who are entering this new frontier, and being some of the first to live long enough to see old age, Realize has initiated a campaign to champion the concerns of older adults with HIV as a Human Rights issue.

Here’s how you can help!

Our “mature” cover model Shaun Proulx, GGN publisher, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of Realize, and he lends his face to the cause. Please drag the image below to your desktop, or copy it from your smart phone, and post it on your social media with a simple note such as “I support the end of #AIDSAgeism.”

Shaun Proulx AIDSageism

Create your own image!

Take a picture of yourself and post the photo to your Facebook and Twitter accounts using the Realize campaign hashtag, #AIDSAgeism.

On Twitter Tag @HIVandRehab and @ShaunProulx
On Facebook tag @HIVandRehab and @OfficialShaunProulx
On Instagram tag @HIVandRehab and @ShaunProulxMediaInc

You can share the Realize campaign video on your social media accounts:

“It would be backwards, inhumane and tragic to reach a point of arrival where the first generation of people with HIV get to see old age are completely ignored, especially after 30 + years of tireless effort to get to the very place we all prayed, struggled and hoped to one day know.” ~ Shaun Proulx, GGN Publisher.

If you’re able, and would like to financially support Realize to make sure that voices of older adults living with HIV are heard, you can make a donation by clicking here.