Meet Marvin

Marvin Anderson works as an award-winning speaker, personal development empowerment coach, author and HIV advocate. He is also the founder of The Stigmocracy Organization. which is working to diminish stigma directed toward individuals infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. We asked Marvin to share his story with our app.

Here’s what he shared with us:

Diagnosis, treatment adherence, and becoming undetectable…

“I was diagnosed in 2014. I had previous knowledge [of HIV] and I was aware of what it meant to be HIV positive, but I wasn’t well as versed [in HIV care].

I was kind of reluctant to get into care because there’s that pill a day. I just didn’t want to be reminded of it. I had to look at it like a power pellet. So [I started thinking], ‘a pill a day keeps the doctor away.’ That’s how I transitioned into adhering, taking my meds, and becoming undetectable, which is now a huge issue. So, yay for that!”

On stigma…

“You know, my story is so relevant to being stigmatized. Not only [the stigma of] HIV but of being an African American, Christian male that happened to be gay, who was trying not to be gay, in the South…I had to come into my authenticity. I was married and then I wasn’t married anymore. I started living my life authentically.

When I found out that I was positive, I realized at that moment that this [condition] has no respect for religious creed, or sex, or cliques or anything like that. This is a human matter, and HIV is a human epidemic. That’s why I’m so passionate about it. And so now, I am rising to the occasion to stand in my space and to be authentic and to speak this message about HIV and AIDS and to stop this epidemic.”

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