Many of us waste our efforts on things we can't change, myself included. For some, it's trying to overcome stigma. It doesn't matter what the stigma concerns, it's always a way of "othering" people away from you or yours. Be it race, gender, religion, skin color, size, health; none of it matters. Stigma is in the attitudes & actions of other people & you can't change that. Efforts have been made for decades to educate, raise awareness & reduce the stigma for people living with HIV. It hasn't worked well.
People sometimes call it HIV-phobia. Maybe for some it is. I think for most, it's just the excuse they needed to belittle, attack & hate people around them. To raise themselves up while rejecting or lessening those seen as the "other."
Most people I know have dealt with stigma, most often from things beyond their control. Skin color, race, your parents, childhood factors; none of these were within your control. So why take responsibility for them.
When I was younger, I let a lot of this get to me. Luckily by the time I was diagnosed with HIV, I was too exhausted & burned out to care. I won't say it hasn't affected me, but I can see it's about someone else & not me. It affected where I choose a dentist. I'm very aware people in this area would hold it against me. I'm not claiming immunity, just a certainty this isn't really about me & there's nothing I can do about it.
I have a limited amount I can put towards anything. I'm not putting a bit towards acknowledging some asshat trashing HIV+ people. For your own sake, try to give people like this as little headspace as possible. There's little you could do to really change them. Isn't that energy better spent on yourself?
Cya...
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