I sit here in the apartment of my boyfriends house waiting for the next guy from the internet to come over. How strange to some, meeting random people and then having an open and candid conversation about our sexual behaviors in a non-threatening environment, might be to some. But I can’t sit here and marvel at how many of these men leave smiling, genuinely happy and feeling good about life. I helped them do that. I sit here doing HIV testing in Helena, Montana and I love it!
Montana doesn’t get enough credit for the work that is being done here with the LGBT rights movement, HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention, and Gender/Two Spirit work. Our state appears red, but that isn’t a good indicator of the community as a whole. Matter of fact check out this link that suggests the town I live in (Missoula, Montana) is catalyst for great change. Click here for the link.
I’ve worked really hard this year to set up a program for getting men to test from online. I figure if you can order groceries, hookers, and Viagra on the internet you should be able to order an HIV test, too! I have been tracking the success of this program and it’s been fascinating to see all of this unfold and to be a part of it!
I’ll be reporting my findings with three other organizations from across Monday and the with the head of the HIV/STD program for the State of Montana in January and I really look forward to seeing what other kinds of success these other organizations have had with this program. I hope that the CDC finds this valuable (as they have expressed their delight in the program, actions are another story) and that we can get Montana on board to kick in some money for HIV prevention. Montana has a sad rap for having never committed a single penny to HIV prevention. Power in Montana is controlled by religiously rich white men, much like the Vatican (even the Vatican is progressing). The ideals of these people do not reflect the true values of Montanans. With the introduction of the internet, people have been able to communicate and spread ideas more readily than ever before. Some of these ideas, granted, are not very good, but the amount of good ideas far out weighs the bad ideas in Montana.
Internet was pivotal in my coming-out in Montana. I met my first love and boyfriend on the internet when I was 15. I was in a Yahoo chat room– that was one of the only chat rooms that had a GLBT specific chat room. To my surprise I found another from Helena, Montana and he was the same age as me!
Of course, high school romances rarely last, but the internet had already connected me to a vast network of gay men and my gay life began to unfold.
Today, I guess more than anything, life truly does come full-circle and continues that cycle…for who knows how long. Here I am at the finish line and yet I’m just starting.
My Positive Life 