Annie Lennox just released a video explaining why she is wearing an HIV Positive T-Shirt (and why she was wearing it on Idol Gives Back last night).. It’s part of the SING Campaign. First of all, she says, the good news is she is not HIV positive. That being said, 22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are. She’s wearing the shirt in solidarity with them because it’s very hard for those people that are HIV Positive to be open about their status – to tell their friends and family. The goal is to normalize the “disease”. There is a lot of secrecy and silence with HIV. People are afraid to come out and say that they are HIV Positive. She says that being HIV positive doesn’t have to have the stigma. It should be like any other disease and people shouldn’t have to live in fear and secrecy. I mean, of course it must be that much hard to deal with something like HIV, or any disease for that matter, on your own. She says the shirt is “a tool for fighting stigma.

I think this is a great cause. There are a lot of organizations to help people HIV, and others to search for the cure. And I’m glad there’s this one too. The stigma doesn’t have to be there and we all need to help eliminate it. No one should feel ashamed or afraid to come out in the open about something like this. Can you imagine if people who had cancer or diabetes (or any disease) and just kept it to themselves because there was a stigma associated with it. How hard would it be to always have the on your mind and be trying to keep it from people.

I feel like I can empathize with people in this situation because I am gay. It was extremely difficult to live with a secret of being gay for so many years. It’s a burden (like the HIV stigma) that need not exist. Check out Annie Lennox’s video explanation & support for this program.

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