VIH'Gilance

03/12/2025

🔥🔥🔥

For the first time since 1988, the U.S. government has not formally recognized World AIDS Day. In response, we’re committing to remembrance — posting a Pines-related story from The AIDS Memorial to honor those we’ve lost:

“A series of photos taken on Fire Island, I would guess in the 1970s, was recently posted on Facebook. To my surprise and delight, this photo was taken of three of my and my wife Jac’s very best friends. The thing about going to a fashion school and then working in the fashion industry [Jac started at 17], was that 90% of your friends were in the fashion industry in one capacity or another … designers, stylists, photographers, make up and hair artists etc etc.

In this photo, from left to right: Frank Masandrea (1947 - 1988), Richard Assatly (1944 - 1993), and Maurice Antaya. Each one a great talent with impeccable taste. The blond fellow, at the extreme right, happens to be the brilliant artist David Hockney.

They were all designers. Frank Masandrea was a brilliant bridal designer who broke all of the barriers. He was truly ground breaking, and was the first bridal designer to take his shows out of the staid showrooms, and created extravaganzas outside and in beautiful venues. Jac loved doing his exciting shows.”

Richard Assatly was a brilliantly talented designer too, but unfortunately battled demons for a while. He eventually lost his business and backers due to drugs, but thankfully pulled himself out of it. I gave him a job designing the Anne Klein dress division. Maurice, who I always said looked like the devil, had a heart of gold, and was a terrific sportswear designer. They all had hearts of gold.

Richard and Maurice eventually worked for me at Anne Klein 11. I had three designers co-designing that division, because the volume was so big. There were times when I was called in to referee, when they couldn't come to a conclusion due to differing opinions.

Richard could steam roller anyone (except me) so I was called in when "needed" to make the final decisions. They both had strong personalities, but Maurice didn't like the confrontations, so I got "THE CALL!" This was the period in time when AIDS was running rampant, and so many of Jac and my friends were getting sick … so talented … and so young … a whole generation of young people gone.”

📸 Photo Credit: The AIDS Memorial

🔗 to read more about World AIDS Day: https://www.pineshistory.org/the-archives/how-the-pines-helped-change-the-world

03/12/2025

Cette année le colloque de la Société française de lutte contre le sida a eu lieu à Montpellier. Beaucoup de sujets sont ressortis de trois jours d'échanges et de rencontres.

Aujourd'hui je vous ferai un retour à la lisière de l'histoire, du militantisme et des enjeux pour poursuivre la lutte contre contre le VIH.

🎧🎤 https://www.comitedesfamilles.net/podcasts/pas-deconomies-sur-nos-corps

01/12/2025

Très belle campagne d'Actions Traitements dans le cadre de la Journée Mondiale de Lutte contre le Sida

« ZÉRO risque de transmission = ZÉRO raison de discriminer »
Actions Traitements retourne en campagne !

Des vies, des visages, des parcours : I = I raconté par celles et ceux qui le vivent

Pour elles et pour eux, I = I n’est pas un slogan mais une révolution intime, une libération, la fin d’une peur profondément ancrée de transmettre le VIH à leurs partenaires. Anne, 61 ans, se souvient : « Quand j’ai découvert I = I, j’ai été abasourdie et ravie. Du jour au lendemain, j’ai arrêté d’avoir peur de toucher un verre ou de caresser mon compagnon. Je me suis sentie redevenir une femme comme les autres ».

Pour Yves, 72 ans, militant de longue date et membre du CA d’Actions Traitements, la certitude a mis du temps à s’installer : « Ma médecin m’a dit pour la première fois : “Yves, tu n’es pas contaminant.” J’ai senti que tout se remettait en place : moins de doute, plus de sécurité, plus de respiration ».

Lydienne raconte l’effet de ce message après vingt ans de sérophobie subie : « Le message I = I a enlevé l’épée de Damoclès qui était au-dessus de ma tête. Aujourd’hui, je sais que je peux aimer sans peur et vivre sans me croire condamnée ».

Pour Oliver, 25 ans, le chemin passe par la communauté : « Ce qui m’a libéré, c’est que d’autres personnes vivant avec le VIH en parlaient ouvertement. Ce n’est pas seulement une information médicale : c’est quelque chose qui circule, qui se partage, qui change la honte en fierté ».

Chacune des personnes apparaissant dans la campagne « Zéro risque » est prête à témoigner et partager son vécu auprès des médias – presse écrite, radio, télévision, web. Il suffit de nous contacter pour être mis.e en relation.

Quand la science avance plus vite que les mentalités

Les preuves scientifiques, comme l’a rappelé l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) en 2023, ne laissent aucune place au doute : il y a zéro risque de transmission du VIH de la part d’une personne vivant avec le VIH sous traitement, avec une charge virale indétectable.

Mais la réalité des personnes concernées reste en décalage et les témoignages le montrent sans détour. Picola, 41 ans, née avec le VIH, raconte : « Deux médecins ont refusé de me soigner quand ils ont appris ma séropositivité ». Julien, 45 ans, a connu les ruptures et la stigmatisation professionnelle : « Une mise au placard jamais officielle, mais bien réelle. Et certains hommes qui me voyaient comme une bombe à retardement ».

Même au sein des familles, la peur persiste. Anne évoque encore la douleur : « Une amie m’a demandé de ne plus toucher son bébé. Et je n’ai plus jamais eu de nouvelles ». Ces expériences rappellent à quel point la sérophobie reste ancrée dans tous les domaines de la société, alors même que la science parle d’une seule voix.

01/12/2025

Aujourd’hui 1er décembre, Journée Mondiale de Lutte contre le Sida est une journée particulière parce que j’ai la chance d’être toujours là, je pense à toutes ces vies perdues, ces visages partis trop vite, trop jeunes , dans des souffrances bien souvent intolérables et parfois complètement seuls …
40,8 millions de personnes vivent avec le VIH dans le monde, 1,3 million de nouvelles infections ont eu lieu en 2024, et 9,2 millions de personnes n'ont toujours pas accès au traitement.
Le 1er décembre, le gouvernement Trump a choisi de ne pas commémorer la Journée Mondiale de Lutte contre le Sida.
Une décision symbolique, qui s’inscrit dans la continuité des coupes budgétaires infligées aux programmes mondiaux de prévention du VIH avec le risque d’engendrer de nouveaux décès et de nouvelles contaminations.
Les associations se battent toujours et encore mais doivent faire face aussi à la désinformation , aux préjugés et rumeurs, à la stigmatisation et la discrimination des personnes vivant avec le VIH car OUI cela existe encore même en 2025 alors qu’une personne séropositive avec bonne observance de sont traitement et charge virale indétectable ne transmets plus le VIH.
Cela fait mal d’en être encore là aujourd’hui mais nous ne baisserons pas les bras , c’est cela notre force.

30/11/2025

8 artistes locaux qui se mobilisent pour une belle soirée le 6 décembre au CLT au profit de l'association VIH'Gilance alors venez nous rejoindre 🙂

5 100 personnes ont découvert leur séropositivité en France en 2024.

Ce n'est pas fini, pas de guérison, pas de vaccin mais nous pouvons vivre avec, pour cela dépistage et utilisation des différents outils de prévention.

Save the Date
Terminal Ouest au profit de l'association VIH'Gilance.
Ça se passe le samedi 6 décembre à 19h30.
Au programme :
Jimmy Bernard, Rubies, IUB, Nesta-Za, No-Za , Coriass le Mc et pour finir Kirby & Narbé.
8 artistes locaux réunis pour la même cause, la lutte et la prévention contre le VIH.
Alors Retrouvez-nous au CLT de Tourlaville le 6 décembre 2025.

29/11/2025

28/11/2025

🔥🔥🔥

🇺🇸 “I’m in Virginia, and when we both were about 21 my best friend Thomas V. Allison (1956 - 1990) moved to San Francisco - to him it represented a holy land of freedom and happiness, compared to how it was to being gay in VA in the early 1980’s.

By 1985 Tom was scared, and we both were hoping against hope that his symptoms were not what he was afraid they were. By late ‘87 he was pretty sick, but insisted he wanted to stay in San Francisco because he had FINALLY met the love of his life. In coded language to avoid what was then the horrible inevitable truth of AIDS he promised me he would come home to die.

Out of sheer frustration at how helpless I felt, I got involved with our local AIDS group, cofounded the first VA chapter on the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and spent the next 2 years with them doing AIDS education and outreach my community. I got to see Tom when I was able to go to San Francisco for a NAMES conference, and had a hard time hiding how shocked I was by how thin and ill my beautiful brilliant friend had become.

Several months later, Tom called to say he wanted to come home. He was so weak he needed an es**rt to help him fly back: his lover flew with him as far as Pittsburgh, and one of my dearest NAMES Project friends volunteered to fly to Pittsburgh to help get him home. Tom spent 4 hours lying on the airport floor because he couldn’t sit up, and nobody could help them find a bed or couch.

Tom stayed with his mom at first but it quickly became obvious it was more than she could handle - to the day she died she never fully accepted that he was gay, much less that he had AIDS.

Fortunately, Tom’s sister was able to get him into an underground AIDS hospice where he stayed until he died in April ‘90. I was working that day but as soon as I learned he had died I was able to go sit with him, tell him how much I loved him, and kiss him goodbye before the funeral home people came in their unmarked van, so as not to freak out the hospice’s neighbors.

Tom was the funniest, brightest, most gifted human being I’ve ever known, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss him and wish he was still here … to see the positive changes in LGBTQ lives and civil rights, how gay and trans people are represented positively in (most) media, to see the rising tide of LGBTQ activism, that I’m proudly parenting my wonderful transgender daughter and her trans wife, and how with meds people now can live long fulfilling lives with HIV.

I just know it all would have made Tom so happy, as it does me. He will always be held close in my heart 💔❤️‍🩹❤️” 📖 by Julie McKay

27/11/2025

Et oui malheureusement, un seul rapport suffit et nul n'est à l'abri.

26/11/2025

🔥🔥🔥

🇺🇸 “In memory of Sergio Anguiano, my late partner and the most courageous person I’ve even known.

I met Sergio in the summer of 1991. We were both students attending UC Berkeley. He was 18 — I was just a few years older. Our lives were just beginning.

That fall, after a few severe illnesses, Sergio was diagnosed with “full-blown” AIDS when neither one of us even knew he was HIV-positive.

We were completely lost and due to judgement and hostility toward people with AIDS in general at that time, except for our very closest friends. We weren’t comfortable volunteering the exact nature of Sergio’s illness - not even with family members.

We feared judgement and rejection and we did not want our families to worry. Today, I feel differently about this. I know our families would have helped. But so many families disowned their own children during these times - we didn’t know what to do.

As Sergio’s partner, the entire 2 ½ year experience was heart-wrenching and terrifying. I had no other friends going through this experience.

Sergio was 21 years old in 1993 when he died in our Berkeley apartment in my arms.

I felt completely broken because I missed Sergio but mostly because it was so painful to watch him fight for his life knowing others felt he somehow deserved to die. The knowledge of that was excruciating.

It literally took years of heroic social justice activist movements to push the government to value our lives too - only then did help finally arrive but not in time to save Sergio.” 📖 by Steve Sagaser