HIV Hoax Lady's Viral Video

You may or may not have seen the viral video of a young woman’s scare tactic to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS by claiming that she has the virus and intends to spread it, or did... I’m not sure, the video is so long and her delivery so annoying that I only made it through 2 minutes.

The last 9 minutes of the video is a mystery to me, but what isn’t unknown is that the video is a fake. Authorities found her, and the creator of the video admitted she doesn’t have HIV. If you want to take the challenge to endure the entire video, feel free. Here it is.

HIV Hoax Lady lives in Detroit. I read somewhere that she and her husband run a subscription based, online adult service that may or may not include her taking her clothes off. I do not judge- the economy is in the shitter and, well, she lives in Detroit. If she works in the sex field, then she has firsthand knowledge of the boner mentality she is addressing in the video, and trying to get guys to use protection or bang in a more discerning way is admirable.

What bugs me, of course, is the “AIDS Monster” theme. Every time a real-life story of someone knowingly infecting another gets out, it colors peoples’ impressions of everyone living with HIV. That we’d all want revenge on the world and take the entire ship down with us after testing positive, when the overwhelming reaction to testing positive is the feeling of being isolated. The fear of someone loving you again.

Of course, those who are that easily influenced by the media see an “AIDS Monster” story and say, “Those damn people with AIDS!”. Then go on with their lives and never discuss the issue of safe sex with their children... or friends, or anyone. As much as I don’t like HIV Hoax Lady’s methodology, at least she’s trying to talk about sex. That puts her one tiny step ahead of everyone else- from school administrators who cut sex education and ban the word “condom” to the DC lawmakers who make carrying more than one condom in your purse a liability in a dumb attempt to curb prostitution.

I must confess that there’s a jealousy factor for me here in addressing HIV Hoax Lady. How can such an obvious sham get 700,000 views on YouTube, when my greatest works- such as Micah Fights, Werewolves: Are They Real?, Shawn Steals a Dog, When Babies Save Christmas, When Babies Have Babies and the Avatar-Asskicking music video Interplanetary Traveler- don’t even break the 10,000 mark combined? I was going to spoof her and present myself as someone who is HIV negative, but the negative community already has a huge image problem to overcome, and I wouldn’t want anyone to be offended as many with HIV were when they saw the video above.

HIV Hoax Lady’s video and scratchy voice did have an impact outside of the cyberworld- it caused a larger than usual turnout for HIV testing in the Detroit area. That’s good. But in all seriousness, anytime someone makes a misguided attempt in furthering HIV prevention by throwing those who are already living with the virus under the bus, we must stand up and defend ourselves.

Happy Martin Luther King Day,
Shawn

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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