Posted on 11/10/2026 8:48:49 AM PST by fwdude
A stigma report from Austin reveals high levels of internalized stigma and a lack of social support for people aging with HIV.
___________________
In an effort to understand how stigma affects Central Texans living with HIV, public health advocates in Austin interviewed people with HIV in five counties over two years. Their results have been released in a report titled People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0.
They summarize four main findings:
1. Internalized stigma is still common.
2. Stigma creates barriers to care and treatment.
3. Disclosure can bring support, but confidentiality concerns remain.
4. Stigma affects social and economic participation.
(Excerpt) Read more at poz.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Some stigma is earned. HIV is definitely one of these.
HIV isn't something that just "happens" to you by transmittal from the handle of a shopping cart or a doorknob or dirty eating utensils. You have to ACTIVELY acquire it.
It's a disease with a moral component in most instances.
Cry me a river.
You want stigma? Publicly oppose LGBTQ. Be Charlie Kirk.
I'm sure 99% of those included in the study were rump rangers.
HIV spreads for one reason. People engage in sexual behavior that destroys society.
Stigma is part of the “natural selection process” to separate the people with destructive behavior from the rest of us with normal behavior. Stigma is good and should be embraced.
Look at Medicaid. Medicaid population is a barbell. Many people have low dollar claims. A small number of people, the weights, have big dollar claims.
The most prominent big weight in Medicaid expense is people who make bad lifestyle choices of tobacco, vaping, alcohol, drugs, STD, HIV. People are free to make bad lifestyle choices... It is a free country (for now). People who make bad lifestyle choices have no right to force others, the taxpayers, to pay for the bad lifestyle choices of a few.
Closeted fags is why we have the HIPPA nonsense.
Stigma? Gee, I can’t imagine why anyone would stigmatize someone with a deadly incurable disease spread solely by fags and drug addicts. Cali has even passed laws saying someone who knows they have hiv does not have to inform someone they plan to have sex with. Yeah, there is a stigma. Who would think there wouldn’t be?
It goes hand-in-glove with societal taboos, unofficial regulations that stand in for laws and make society livable.
Right? For those who have the “happy” disease, they don’t seem too happy
What the left wants is to make stigma-motivated behavior illegal, or at least make it the real problem. Saddle it with a “-phobia” label like they did with people who rationally recognize homosexual behavior as unhealthy and immoral.
HIV is a special disease.
Its sufferers are special people.
Why izzat?
Amen.
Yes, I know, some people get it through blood Xfus, etc.
But we know the vast majority.
OTOH, I’m no longer clear that AIDS and HIV by itself, are that bad now. Constant haranguing about it long ago seemed to simmer far down.
Do we have to ramp it up again for more endless sympathy?
Do we have to ramp it up again for more endless sympathy?
No, $$$$.
HIV is so special, you get a quilt.
Hmm. Internalized stigma ???
In other words feeling guilty reframed for people who reject the very concept of guilt, let alone ever apply it to themselves.
So basically they are saying they are sinning against God and we need to feel bad for them?
I consider myself a Christian man and I know I need to have compassion but I really struggle with this one.
“Stigma” stands in for guilt because stigma insinuates that it’s outside parties and standards causing it, disclaiming any responsibility for it.
The mental gymnastics that these people have to constantly engage in must be exhausting.
Christians are under no obligation to coddle unrepentant, proud sinners.
Reproof is more in order.
Once Texas is fully islamized the HIV stigma problem will quickly be resolved.
How long until the parking lot high diving competitions begin?
😆 Right away. Or you could opt for the catch-the-whip-with-your-back challenge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.