HIV is no restraint on pleasure and nor should it ever be. Heaven DJ, music producer and all-round King of the club circuit Wayne G, featured in this month’s PN, is living testimony to this.
He reminds us how many, many people living with HIV continue to club hard and play even harder, in spite (or perhaps even because) of their diagnosis.
It is often said the gay scene is no longer interested in HIV, that it is rife with body Fascism and has turned its back on people living with the virus.
Surely then it is cause for celebration that a hedonistic, globe-trotting, cult DJ with a massive gay following (and a hot body) can finally stand up and be counted as HIV positive.
Maybe we should also raise a glass (yes, more partying) to the many not-so-famous souls living with HIV who steadfastly refuse to let their sero-status get in the way of having a good time.
Of course, pill-popping and consuming bucket-loads of nose-candy is not everyone’s cup of cocoa. But a fair few of you out there take recreational drugs with your anti-HIV treatment - especially during the summer festival season (we know ‘cos you’ve told us).
With this in mind and with the festival season hard upon us, this month’s PN takes a practical look at the relative risks of mixing party drugs with meds, how they impact on your immune system and offers tips for harm reduction.
PN is big fan of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (342-270 BC) who taught that our life’s goal should be to minimize pain and maximize pleasure.
Hedonism as a life-long operating system is probably not practical in this day and age (after all the Greeks had slaves to do the dishes and wash their knickers). So perhaps it is now time to peddle a new verb: ‘hedonate’ to denote a new kind of 21st century part-time pleasure-seeking based on maximising fun and reducing harm.
At PN we are not often given to using the word ‘don’t’. We prefer to advocate the positive: so do remember to drink lots of water, take you meds, eat properly, respect your sexual health, party hard, party smart and live to ‘hedonate’ another day.
A number of highly valued PN volunteers have recently left us to move onwards and upwards into paid employment or full-time education. So the time has come to refresh our stable of talented writers and contributors. PN would like to hear from readers interested in contributing to the magazine on a voluntary basis. Perhaps you have had experience in magazine publishing or another area of journalism? Or maybe you’ve just got bags of raw talent, a great turn of phrase and a bucketful of ideas and are just itching to get started? We would especially like to hear from younger people living with HIV. Why not drop us a line on aelliot@positivenation.co.uk
Amanda Elliot, managing editor
