After I learned I was positive in ’96, a co-worker said, ’I thought you were smarter than that!’ For her insensitivity, I presented her with the Leona Helmsley/Dr. Laura Bitch Slap! Award."

--Gregory Webber,
Knoxville, Tennessee

“A clerk in a pharmacy said, ’My new hairdresser is a man, and I think he’s gay. Aren’t all gay men infected?’ I looked her up and down and said, ’Honey, your hair looks great, and if you aren’t sleeping with him, don’t worry.”

--Nate Klarfeld,
Wilton Manors, Florida

“When I told a friend I was positive, he said I had been cursed. I responded, ”Cursed because I have HIV, or because I have ignorant friends?"

--Chad Conley,
Vancouver, Canada

"I was starting to tell a friend about drug-resistance testing, and he said, ’They can test for that? If people would resist more often, there’d be a lot fewer cases of AIDS, don’t you think?’"

--Maryann Sinnott,
Edison, New Jersey

“A college student asked me, ’Can I get HIV from kissing a stripper’s butt?’”

--River Huston,
Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

“A guy once asked if I could feel the HIV running around inside my body. No kidding! It amazes me sometimes how differently people view HIV from the many other chronic illnesses out there.”

--Josh
Washington