GLAAD Report Shows Gaps In Public Knowledge Surrounding HIV/AIDS

While we are making more progress collectively than any time before in finding a cure for HIV/AIDS, with methods effectively working against transmission of the virus for HIV-positive people, a recent report from GLAAD shows that, in regard to HIV stigma in the United States, we still have a ways to go.

The report surveyed more than 2,500 U.S. adults, and only 48 percent said they consider themselves knowledgable about the virus. In comparison to 2020’s report, that is a 3 percent decrease.

On top of that, more than half (52 percent) of respondents said they would be uncomfortable being treated by a medical professional living with HIV, and 44 percent made the same comment regarding an HIV positive hair stylist or barber. This points to an additional information gap in regard to modern treatment of HIV, as folks receiving proper care will eventually reach a point where the viral load is not detectable in their blood. Therefore, folks with a non-detectable HIV viral load cannot be transmitted to anyone else.

“People still see HIV and AIDS as a death sentence,” Tatiana Williams of TransinclusiveGroup tells GLAAD. “We have to normalize the conversation surrounding HIV, and how HIV impacts the entire community, not just certain communities and/or sub-groups.”

Some researchers say part of the reason for these lingering stigmas could be because of a decrease in media coverage surrounding developments in the fight against HIV/AIDs, like the widespread use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or Moderna’s recent announcement surrounding the use of COVID-19 vaccination technology to begin trials for an HIV vaccine.

This continued stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS could also be due to ill-informed commentary from public figures, ranging from the former president’s consistent harmful rhetoric toward the LGBTQ community over his four-year term, to rapper DaBaby’s recent comments at a festival, essentially equating HIV/AIDS as exclusively an issue within the queer community and further skewing the progress around treatment over a handful of decades, stating, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light in the air.”

The report also reveals some more uplighting information, like 56 percent of respondents reporting to GLAAD they have seen more stories about people living with HIV in the media, up 4 percent from the 2020 report. This comes after a year of prominent celebs, like Pose‘s Billy Porter, opening up about their positive HIV status and helping to paint a picture to the masses of what living with HIV today is truly like.