Wisdom Wednesdays

Hello Pumpkins! It’s The Divine Miss B…Alana Blackwell here to share my thoughts and views on HIV Testing!

It seems like just yesterday at the tender age of 22 that I was coming out in the GLBT Community, going to the clubs, meeting new friends and looking for that ever special person to be my boyfriend. Coming from a small farming community like I did, this was all very new and scary to me! I was hearing terms like barebacking, rimming and well you get my point…I’m sure it isn’t anything none of you have heard before!

It was also about this same time that I really started to hear things like are you “clean”, we won’t go there on what I thought they really meant. I also was being asked are you positive, negative, what’s your status? That’s when it hit me; a guy who turned out to be one of my best friends told me one day that he was HIV positive, he had been having unsafe sex with a couple of different guys and he became infected. It was then that I learned what those terms meant and how they would forever affect my life, friendships and relationships. In the 18 years that I have been out, I’ve lost about 10 friends to AIDS, have friends who are HIV positive and even still have friends who don’t make the wisest of choices when it comes to having sex with multiple partners and not playing it safe.

That very same day my friend told me he was positive I went out and got myself tested. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. The worst part was the waiting for your results; they didn’t have the rapid tests like they do today. I remember to this day how I felt when that nurse walked into the room and told me I was HIV negative; I set in that room with her and just cried, she reminded me that I was negative and I told her I understood that, but hadn’t always made the wisest decisions myself at times during sexual encounters. It was from that day on that I was tested every 6 months faithfully and to this day I still get tested and am still HIV negative because I decided to make wiser choices in my life.

You see pumpkins; we are only given one life to live on this earth. It is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, keep ourselves healthy and to protect ourselves from disease, abuses, etc…I can’t judge you for what you want to do with your life, how you want to take care of yourself and the decisions you make that may affect your life and possibly the lives of others. I can and will offer you my opinion!

Getting tested, whether you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and even straight; will be one of the smartest things you will ever do in your life. Practicing safe sex, using a dental dam, not sharing needles, knowing how to be safe and play safe will only benefit you and those close to you!

Remember…Life May Be A Drag…GETTING TESTED ISN’T! Oh! One other thing…Don’t Be a Fool, Wrap You’re Tool!

Much Love and Happiness to You!
Alana Blackwell
The Divine Miss B.