when i was diagnosed, it changed my life completely. i was a 17 year old boy barely coming to grips with my sexuality. i was already struggling with aspects of myself that i was scared to share with the world in fear of judgment and now this happened.
it stopped my from fully immersing myself into my own community the way that i would have liked to. it did humble me tho & made relationships more valuable to me. so when i say i’m a proud positive man… i’m proud of the man that it’s made me become.
mathew, he/him/his
philadelphia, pa
interviewed & photographed by: louie a. ortiz-fonseca
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