Lifestyle

I’m not the most patient of people and I’m also competitive – I’ve mastered being able to ‘win’ at anything, especially when I’m the only person involved. So when it comes to dating despite knowing something will happen unexpectedly and when the time is right I’m easily frustrated.  So whilst hungover over the bank holiday weekend I decided to download Tinder. Having been in a relationship until last August I’m late to the party with this one so I doubt much of what I have

Photo: © Dan Hall Moving in together is one of the milestone steps any couple takes. It’s in everyone’s ‘plan’ as being somewhere between saying “I love you” and getting hitched. It seems a very grown up thing to do. Having recently taken the step myself I thought I would share with you the five fears I think are common for everyone about to take the shared property plunge. 1. What will happen to my personal space? It’s a legitimate fear. Up until the point of moving in we

To read the complete article by Chloe Lessard, visit KALW.org, here. Did you know that you can take a drug to reduce your risk of getting HIV? If you’re a gay man, you’ve probably heard of it. It’s a daily regimen called PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis. Maybe you’ve even seen ads for it on BART trains or clinic brochures, usually targeting men who sleep with other men. But PrEP doesn’t only benefit men, and some women and trans folks are wondering why a drug that could potential

I recently met up with a friend of mine who laughed when I mentioned that I was writing my next article on relationships. I can’t blame him. I’m single. I’ve been consistently single for the past nine years. My relationship with relationships isn’t great. When I was younger I couldn’t wait until I was older so I could find ‘the one’. I was such a romantic. I would obsess over how we would meet. How he would propose. Where we would live and what our lives would be like. Even thou

Bob Leahy: Hi again Barry. Tell us about your route you will be travelling this time.  Barry Haarde: After completing five trans-continental tours in the U.S., including last year’s 5,000 mile trek from Seattle to Key West in 60 days, we decided to change things up a bit and ride the length of the Alaska Highway. The ride starts at “Mile 0” of the AlCan route in Dawson Creek, B.C. and tracks northwest in to Alaska, finishing near Fairbanks. Then, I’ll be riding an additional 650 mile

I used to see him very often in the neighborhood. I didn’t even know his name but there was something about this man that was very pleasant and captivating. My husband, Denis and I used to comment on how handsome and dapper he always appeared. He was a really sharp dresser, a very elegant man with a well-crafted retro sense of fashion. With his linen suits, alligator shoes, ascots, and meticulously crafted handlebar mustache, he was always a sight to behold. Every time he crossed our path,

Many of us have opted for a less structured approach to dressing that accommodates our lifestyles. Incorporating clothing specifically designed for workouts and other athletic activities into our work, casual and social wardrobes has become a new standard of dressing. And since it has begun chipping away at sales in casual (think jeans) and ready to wear commodities it has created one of its own. Pieces specifically designed for true sportswear have now expanded into everyday wear. Whether fo

Following my diagnosis it was a mere three months before I met my ex-partner. He was someone I spent another six and a half years with until we broke up at the end of last summer. I think I am in a little bit of an unusual situation; living with HIV for 87 months but during that period only being single for nine of them. I’ve been avoiding dating since the split, enjoying time by myself and busying myself with work, family and friends. Over the past few weeks I’ve been toying with the

Une version française est disponible ici. In Canada, people who inject drugs are disproportionately affected by HIV compared to the general population. Among people who inject drugs, HIV transmission happens primarily through the sharing of injection drug use equipment, but also through sexual transmission. This article will look at the risk of HIV transmission through injection drug use, and will explore some of the factors that contribute to an increased risk among people who inject dr

This article originally appeared in the UK’s FS magazine, a publication of GMFA, here. I want to be a ‘slut’. There, I said it. You might be thinking, “why would anyone want to be a slut?” After all, this word is deeply misogynistic, where  women are criticised for dressing a certain way and for having openly active sex lives. Heaven fucking forbid! This negativity also spills into the gay world to some extent, particularly when STIs are involved, and people get on their high hor

To read the entire  article by Joshua Middleton, visit TheBody.com, here. An image of the moment I was diagnosed HIV positive remains vivid in my mind. The feelings and emotions that ran through my body like a lightening bolt that day are not easily forgotten. They will be with me forever, as will my feeling of infectiousness upon hearing the words that have played in my mind like a broken record all these years: "Josh, I am sorry, but you are HIV positive." I remember telling myself that

Asked recently how I spend my time, a clear simple answer was hardly suitable. Yet to offer an accurate statement would take the entire evening. Spending the next few days pondering a succinct reply, irony speaks most loudly in my ear. Ready for the next time this question comes up, "Seq Worker" will be the response. Confusing and throwing the inquirer off balance – off balance because, firstly they would have to admit they know the term; secondly because they would be astonished to be in t

To read the complete article by Karen Fratti visit Redbook, here. I was living in New York City with a boyfriend I'll call Matt when I was diagnosed with HIV. I was 28 and he was just hitting 35. It was my first steady, long-term relationship, and we did what I used to think of as "grown-up" things. Like having Sunday football parties or fighting in Home Depot about what color to paint an accent wall in our living room. We made complex weekday dinners to distract ourselves from the fact th

I haven’t written for a while. Sorry Bob, it's not because I can’t think of a topic; quite the contrary there are so many topics. For example, I kept agreeing with the consensus that 2016 sucked. However, in re-examining the year, I’m forced to admit that as a Long-Term Survivor (LTS) it was no different than the last ten years. I lost friends. I’m still on disability which really limits one’s life possibilities. There’s a sense of depressing regularity which naturally I counter w

I have had a difficult life. My mom committed suicide when I was three years old and my dad had a heart attack when I was nine. I am a product of child abuse, being passed from one relative to another. I was lost on track when I reached college where I decided to run away from my uncle who had treated me like an animal and went on searching for a place where I could survive. I begged from strangers, asked them to keep me in their homes in exchange for labor. I met up with many gay men for mo