LUIS

One of my greatest passions is theatre. Me and my friend and colleague Maholin Mason created Be Teatro, a company that bases its work and research on social issues like power, women’s rights, bullying and harassment in the workplace, mental health awareness, and gender.

I started writing a few years back, and now I started creating Video Poems, either from my own creation or from other poets and friends. I share my work mainly on social media and stages across Dublin.

Now, I write daily articles about HIV, prepare videos and photos, and study issue such as access to treatment and diagnostics.

OPEN

When I was still living in Venezuela I struggled so much to come out as HIV+. The medical and economic crisis delayed all investments in medication and services for people living with HIV since 2016. Hospitals can barely look after emergencies and so many people have stopped taking their medication. It was a death sentence for so many people.

I told my husband about my HIV status a few weeks after we met and cried while he held my hand and told me everything was gonna be ok. That’s when the healing journey for my mental health and my resolution to opening up about HIV started.

I came out publicly in the POZ Vibe Podcast in 2021 which is one of the best resources available for people living with HIV in Ireland. Before that, the stigma and shame prevented me from disclosing my status.

Right after the podcast, so many other Latin-American people reached out to me to share their experiences after their diagnoses, looking for advice on how to thrive and disclose their status with their families and friends. This has been extremely touching, personal, and inspiring.

If you are living with HIV today and haven’t opened up to anyone yet, just remember that the moment you open up and disclose your status, the world is not going to change, but YOUR OWN WORLD will change for the best!