AIDS Healthcare Foundation Asks Bristol-Myers Squibb To Stop Running Reyataz Ad It Says Minimizes Seriousness of AIDS

Reyataz Ads

I am a model in one of Reyataz's current ads. I am proud of who I am, and I am proud to have been chosen to represent this product two times. What I don't understand is where does AHF or any other supposed healthcare institution that claims to have the best interests of HIV positive persons, get the right to make the claim that the ads are "Irresposible"?

HIV infection is not a death sentence. There is life after your HIV diagnosis. I'm an active man, who is a dancer, yogi, actor and teacher. I, as well as many other poz friends work out at the gym. And yes, I enjoy days at the beach with my friends and pop my meds right on the beach.

While I am not in the minds of the advertisers, I believe they are doing their best to take away some of the social stigma of living with HIV, which was created by the medical institution and the media to begin with. Trust me, there is nothing "romantic" about living with HIV, as one article I've read claims the drug companies are romanticizing HIV infection.

How so, I ask? This is about personal responsibility. Each person is in charge of their own life and the choices they make in their life. The drug companies do not have any power over anyone's freedom of choice, or freedom to think for themselves about how they perceive HIV infection. I am a normal person, living a normal life. HIV is a small part of my full life. I don't at all minimize the ramifications of it, because my health is of high importance to me. Conversely, I don't agonize over the fact that I am living with HIV. I've got lot's of goals to accomplish, lot's of trips to take, lot's to do while I'm here. Yes, even with the ups and downs of life, for me, life is a beach. Why? Because I am choosing it to be so. That may not be the same for everyone, and it shouldn't be. We are all individuals. Instead of bashing and finger pointing, why don't you interview me, as well as some of the other models who appear in BMS's ads, and see what we have to say? After all, we weren't chosen to be spokespersons for nothing.

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