AIDS
Unmasking HIV myths

Are you convinced that anyone can be at risk for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS? Kerry, Pedro, David, and Antigone learned too late. They are HIV positive - infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

KERRY: My understanding of HIV was a disease that gay men gave to each other. It never occurred to me at 15 years old that I could contract HIV, assuming I wasn't going to have sex with someone who was gay.

PEDRO: Gay, straight, bisexual, black, gray or white, young or old. If you are having unprotected sex, you are putting yourself at risk for AIDS. It's not about who you are. It's what you do.

DAVID: People say, "It's a gay disease. Not my problem." In the early '80s, if we hadn't thought of gay men living with this as disposable, babies, children, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and football players wouldn't be dying now. That's a fact.

ANTIGONE: Anybody can get it. That's why it is so important to get different kinds of images in the media of people who have it. It really does not matter what you look like.

PEDRO: I was an honor student and captain of my track team. I used to run six miles a day. I was president of science club. Most people look at me and said, "It could never happen to him, he is a good kid." I thought that way, too. Now look at me. I have HIV.