The Positive Living Society BC is a non-profit organization in Downtown Vancouver that provides services for people with HIV/AIDS. Its founding purpose is to “provide a forum for people living with HIV/AIDS to advocate for their rights and their health issues” (as stated on their website) (Positive Living BC 2017). The board consists of members only, meaning an individual with HIV/AIDS. This illustrates the importance of whose voices are involved: it is a space consisting of and providing services for people with HIV/AIDS. It is necessary to create a space for oneself and mobilizing because of shared identities and goals (Combahee River Collective 1982). Positive Living created the project History Alive, documenting the history of the organization since its inception in 1986 by founder Kevin Brown.
HIV/AIDS has been predominantly framed in media as an issue concerning specifically white gay men, though it affects a variety of people. In 2015, Women made up 24.1% of HIV cases. Most common exposure is men who have sex with men (45.1%), heterosexual contact (31.9%), and injection drug use (16.3%). Divided racially, white individuals made up the largest category (45.6%), then Black (18.7%), and Indigenous (17.5%) (Government of Canada). There is a lack of representation of queer, transgender, Black, and Indigenous people of colour (QTBIPOC) (despite making up a substantial amount of cases of HIV in Canada) in this framing, and even in the beginnings of the organization’s history. The History Alive section of the website refers to individuals affected by HIV as gay men in posts describing the earlier years of the organization, emphasizing who is represented in the struggle with HIV. Many of the photos also depict these men as either white or white-passing. Kevin Brown, Positive Living’s founder, became the face of the organization, further reproducing the image of the white gay male. We must think intersectionally and to include the voices of those who have been marginalized. The whiteness prevalent in the history of the struggle with HIV/AIDS evidences who is given more representation. Currently and historically, however, QTBIPOC have been and continue to be a significant part of the organization and of communities of people with HIV/AIDS. To give recognition, however, should not be confused with giving a voice. Giving recognition is listening to the voices that are already present yet have been ignored or repressed. Doing so recognizes the
agency of those who have been marginalized. There is importance in naming and identifying oneself; “[n]aming is how [one] make[s] [one’s] presence known” (Anzaldua, 1994 p.164). The use of “person with HIV/AIDS” is part of that naming. In an interview with Kevin Brown, he states that this is preferred over using the term “HIV/AIDS victim” (Positive Living BC 2017). This naming reflects the agency of the organization’s members and the community that has been built. Those who have this commonality within Vancouver are able to connect with each other through Positive Living.
The timeline that documents the organization’s history on the Positive Living website shows videos of interviews with some members, which noticeably lack racial diversity. Due to the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS, this lack can be attributed to the fact that publicly sharing one’s status as a person with HIV/AIDS. We must understand the salience of survival. Not all members have the same privileges as others (which is why thinking intersectionally is crucial). Because one must be a member living with HIV/AIDS in order to join the organization, this puts individuals in a position of vulnerability and may choose not to make themselves so visible within the organization and rather, choose to be part of Positive Living (or rather publicly represented) without having to be so easily targeted in the public eye. In addition, some individuals may not be “out” (to use a Western concept) to all others in their lives and choose to keep that private. This is a method of survival that is necessary in order to navigate society while minimizing risk.
History Alive in its current state aims to display more of its diversity by incorporating more QTBIPOC members in interviews and photographs. This is the goal set for future posts (i.e. photos and videos) that will be available on the website in the near future, as confirmed by the project’s communications assistant. These interviews illustrate the individual stories of the members, placing faces and stories to each one. It is important to recognize the stories of the members that have not been heard or have been able to tell their stories in the past. Doing so adds to the process of creating a space – a QTBIPOC space. What makes a space QTBIPOC is not inherent nor is it within the location itself – rather, it is the individuals that make the space QTBIPOC.
Sources
Anzaldua, Gloria. (Originally 1991). To(o) queer the writer: loca, escritora y Chicana. In Keating, Ana Louise, The Gloria Anzaldua Reader, pp. 163-175.
Combahee River Collective. (1982). The Combahee River Collective statement. In Smith, Barbara (ed.), Home girls: a Black feminist anthology, pp. 264-274.
Positive Living BC. (2017). History. Retrieved from https://positivelivingbc.org/about/history/