HIV Stigma Fighter

Our own power We all carry dreams and desires, but we also carry the whispers that try to stop us...

Sharing pizza and lime juice with my Korean sisters living with HIV at the Share office reminded me of the power of safe spaces. Here, women can speak openly about health, stigma, and survival. Without fear or judgment.

They told me about the challenges: no legal protections, fear of losing jobs, and the pressure to disclose HIV status. It’s scary. I encouraged them to start with baby steps; connecting over coffee, continuing peer support at Share, and building strength together.

Some are artists or sports talents too. We laughed, shared performances, and dreamed of breaking stigma through creativity and determination. Opening up about your HIV status is still a big deal. So they asked me how I shared my status, how I kept my career, whether I was afraid. I explained it took me 10 years of preparation, and the courage to face both good and bad reactions.

Thanks to the digital world, we’ll stay connected. Next time, I hope even more sisters will join. Ready to share their stories, advocate, and raise HIV awareness. They are my future stigma fighters.

Deep gratitude to Tari and her team at Share for welcoming us with such warm hearts.Thank you for your amazing translation!
Until next time.🫶

My lovely people, June is not only Pride Month. In korea it is also a time to honour s*x workers’ rights. So, on 29 June, we celebrated “National S*x Workers Day”, organized by S*x Workers Liberation Action Scarlet Chacha 성노동자 해방행동 주홍빛연대 차차 and Youth/Labor Solidarity Buraza 청소년성/노동연대 부라자 This is an important date as on this day a group of s*x workers stood up and claimed their rights! So every year they now celebrate National S*x Workers Day on 29 June.

Already before the official start of the event, our creativity flowed as we were writing inspiring and positive messages and filling the event walls with them. Even erotic arts were on display as part of the culture of resistance. Very colourful!

Speakers from diverse movements, like Tari from 성적권리와 재생산정의를 위한 센터 셰어 or Tori from the HIV movement, reminded us that stigma and injustice can only be fought together. Eric the Dragking was also invited to share his talent by dancing stigma away. It was so nice to bring this message to such a diverse audience and even invite the audience to repeat with me in Korean: “I am strong like Eric.”

I could not have done this without the help of 백승우 who even helped me to make a beautiful message on an umbrella: “Stigma kills. Arts save lives”.

And there we all celebrated and stood side by side trans , s*x workers, activists, and artists shining bright and proving that our voices are stronger together.

Thank you Scarlet Chacha for creating this space of solidarity, joy, and resistance for the Korean S*x Worker Community and their allies.

*xWorkersDay