Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Ainsley Reid at the Gleaner Company's HIV/AIDS forum on Tuesday. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Ainsley Reid, a Person Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) for almost 14 years, and who declared his status in a mass media campaign, says he has been getting both positive and negative feedback since he made the matter public last month.

Mr. Reid was diagnosed with HIV in 1992 and was devastated when he got the news.

"I was afraid and concerned that I was going to die and that concern was heavy on my mind as to who I was going to tell," he said yesterday.

Too much denial

He said his coming forward was an attempt to reduce the stigma and discrimination that is associated with HIV/AIDS. "And to help people understand that we are getting on with our lives," he said. "There is too much denial in terms of different groups of people and we are acting as if this is not happening. We still have a far way to go because I don't think that a lot of people understand the issue until they are confronted with it."

Just last week, Mr. Reid went to do a transaction and the person who was dealing with it, refused to touch his identification, instructing him to put it on the table. He noted that her behaviour was an indication that she knew that he was in the advertisement and was aware of his status, although she did not say so.

He also recounted that some persons at his barber were concerned that the barber was using the same instrument that is used to cut his hair to groom others.

But Mr. Reid told The Gleaner that he is not affected by the negative feedback he has received from people, noting that his experience has taught him to deal with it in a non-confrontational manner.

However, Mr. Reid has been hailed for his courageous efforts, noting that some people have realised that he is human. He pointed out that his neighbours are friendly and his landlord is the best a tenant could ask for. He noted that while driving on the road recently, a motorist yelled, "Ainsley big up!"

When Mr. Reid found out that he had contracted HIV, he had a girlfriend but they were not sexually active at the time. When he broke the news to her, she decided that she was going to stay with him. They got married in 1999 and are still together today. She is HIV-negative.

"She stayed with me and we don't sleep head and foot in the bed and we don't have two different bathrooms or two different rooms. We love each other," Mr. Reid told a Gleaner Editors' Forum held at the newspaper's North Street head offices on Tuesday.