Note: This article originally appeared in Futter, the young magazine of the Kleine Zeitung.
if Michael Hofbauer received the diagnosis HIV positive, he is just 19 years old: “I know when and how I got it, but in the end it doesn’t matter”. In his private environment, he quickly deals openly with his infection. On the first anniversary of his diagnosis, he goes one step further and publishes a YouTube-Video with the title: “Yes, I am HIV-positive”. his concern: Breaking down prejudices and educating about what being infected with HIV means today. We met the 22-year-old for an interview.
You have been HIV positive for more than two years. How was it to receive this diagnosis?
Michael Hofbauer: I accepted the diagnosis itself. The time before that was horrifying because you live in uncertainty: do you have it, don’t you have it?
How long did it take you to be sure?
It took about eleven days until I had the first viral load in my blood. This time was quite a psychological burden. However, my doctor took away some of my fears by explaining to me that there are medications that prevent transmission and that you stay healthy.
How did those closest to you react to the HIV infection?
As to be expected: Emotional. And connected with tears. The biggest hurdle was teaching my parents. Thank God I had my sister by my side. Many of my friends were also emotional. But it all settled down quickly for everyone after they had clarified that there were good treatment options and that they were no longer a threat to those close to them.
So when you talked about your diagnosis, was a lot of it educational?
Exactly. Many had the images from before in their heads. At the time, that was death news. Nowadays you have to take pills your whole life until there is a cure (editor’s note: The world’s fourth HIV patient is now considered cured). But I think the diagnosis is easier to cope with than it used to be.
To what extent did you then quickly deal openly with your HIV infection?
I kept it to myself at first to see how the therapy worked for me. But in fact, right from the start I wanted to deal with it openly. Because the HIV infection is a part of me. I want to show myself as I really am. And: Despite everything, I wanted to make sense of my situation, no matter how bad it is or if others say it’s still so bad.
It almost sounds like other people find your diagnosis worse than you do…
My handling of the infection confuses a lot of people. Some believe me
wouldn’t take it seriously. But on the contrary: You should treat this infection with a lot of respect. You simply have to have a very unique character to be able to deal with such a serious situation at all. And I think I have.
One often hears that people infected with HIV in the medical field – where the specialist staff should actually be informed accordingly – make discriminatory experiences.
In fact, there are still some construction sites in the medical field. I was lucky enough to never have to experience anything like this. At my last visit to the dentist, I said right before the treatment: ‘I’m HIV-positive, I’ve been taking pills for more than two years, I’m not contagious’. I have a relatively young dentist and I loved her reaction because she listened to me. I think you should always come clean: I think that’s the same with doctors as with partners. It’s also a matter of respect, so you know who you’re dealing with.
You are one of the faces of the campaign #work positively, which is committed to non-discriminatory treatment of HIV-positive people in working life. How did you deal with your infection yourself in the work context?
My teammates got wind of it when I posted the YouTube video. When I came back to the company after the publication, the working day went on as usual. There weren’t any stupid questions, no one gave me a weird look, my work colleagues took it well and accepted it.
Was there any negative feedback on the video?
It was mostly positive feedback. People were proud that I was fighting against discrimination. But someone commented that I was using the video to communicate to younger generations that it wouldn’t matter to have sex without a condom. I didn’t say anything to that effect in the video and I didn’t get involved in the discussion.
Do you have a message for other people living with HIV?
Of course, you need courage to even take a step like I did. But it was a liberating step. Talking about it: This is the best way to break the taboo. If we pull together and support projects like #positivework, for example, we can achieve great things and eliminate discrimination and prejudice.