“In overcoming HIV…we’re re-writing the playbook for future generations to do the same.” Lifestyle movement leader and HIV advocate Jake Glaser gets real about living with HIV and gives a masterclass on owning your story.
Watch Ep. 5 of #TruthBetold, hosted by Tony Morrison right here.
Jake Glaser:
We’re always searching for our truth, right? And that’s the, the human experience that connects all of us
Tony Morrison
Truth, be told he’s an advocate for people living with HIV and a champion for ending HIV stigma by shifting the approach in language of how we talk about HIV today. Hey, Jake. Glaser.
Jake Glaser
Hi. How are
Tony Morrison
You? I’m good. You’re living your truth today, Jake, but it, I feel like it wasn’t always like that. Like so many of us in our stories here, but what was life like before the version of yourself today? Maybe tell me a little bit about young Jake, Glaser
Jake Glaser
Young Jake Glaser. Um, well, first off, thanks for having me. Um, truth be told is a, is a beautiful, beautiful, uh, narrative to push through here. You know, it’s, it’s, we’re always searching for our truth. Right, right. And that’s the, the human experience that connects all of us. Um, you know, in some respects, my childhood was very unique in a lot of ways, being an HIV positive, uh, kid in the eighties and early nineties, you know, brought its slew of challenges and stigma. Um, and it was definitely a challenging time, you know, a lot of, as you said, uh, breaking stigma and really bringing the focus to a relatability, a connectivity through the experience and while my HIV experience definitely great, you know, created challenges for me, um, at a time where stigma was, you know, at its peak and it’s, it’s still here in the world.
Jake Glaser
It’s not something that we’ve gotten rid of. And I think that’s an important narrative that we’ll talk about. Um, and I was lucky enough to have family and friends and individuals that supported me in that experience. You know, there’s only one school in Los Angeles that even accepted me and my sister. Yeah. Uh, because of our status. And that was the nature of, of the world, you know, when we first learned about HIV and aids, um, and on my unique experience, I mean, I had a father that was a celebrity, you know, Paul, Michael Glaser, Starski and Hutch, and a mother who was, went from a second grade school teacher to, uh, a warrior advocate in the world. And so there was a wild experience in identity crisis that kind of brewed from that. But I also think it’s important to recognize the fact that like, yes, while HIV was a part of my life and created that isn’t, that what all kids and teens experience and aren’t we all asking ourselves the questions of who are we and where do we fit in the world?
Jake Glaser
And what’s a, what are relationships like and will I access love and all of these different narratives that we share. And, um, you know, and so to that truth, I mean, so much of it is, uh, I’m grateful for the challenges. I’m grateful for the successes. I’m grateful for my parents and the community that has helped grow this movement to end HIV and aids and tear down stigma in the world. Um, and so the PO the positives and the negatives have all led to, uh, the Jake that we, that I get to. And hopefully other people get to experience today.
Tony Morrison
Your mom, Elizabeth Glaser founded the Elizabeth Glaser pediatric aids foundation. You’ve carried through her legacy with that foundation. We’ve also founded modern advocate, which is a lifestyle movement. And I love that syntax. It’s a lifestyle movement. Tell me more about the work you’re doing there.
Jake Glaser
Yeah. Thank you. Um, you know, yeah. My mom’s starting the Elizabeth Glaser, pediatric aids foundation, you know, one thing that she gave me and, you know, our, our parents always, you know, there are gifts and then there are challenges we have to overcome this need to go against the grain. This need to find healthy ways to be slightly disruptive and to evolve and support kind of the growth of narrative and, and storytelling in the experience. And so modern advocate was something that was started to create a space that promoted the opportunity for a new perspective, a paradigm shift in how we approach issues like HIV. I mean, it can apply to any, uh, type of advocacy that you might be involved in in your life, but it’s really supporting the message of how do you own it? How do you make it yours? You know, when I sit there and I look at the stigma that exists in our world today, around HIV and aids, I sit there and I say, okay, older generation, you didn’t ask me if I wanted it.
You didn’t ask me how I felt about it. You just gave it to me. And so here’s an opportunity for us to say, what are our stories? What do, what is my generation and generations that come after me? What do, what do they want the world to know? Yeah. And what does this mean to them? And that’s so much of it comes through in relationship building and storytelling. And so in my experience, um, especially traveling to Africa and developing my friendships and my, my extended family, you know, uh, on the other side of the globe, this wasn’t a relationship building experience that was out of sympathy or out of, uh, you know, poor me or poor you. This was a friendship that was created because we subscribe to the same things that we love in life. And why do we allow those geographical boundaries or financial boundaries or access to care and treatment in that experience or access to mental health, get in the way of us finding a commonality and an opportunity to actually share our experience, which is similar in a lot of ways.
Um, and that really led me, uh, through kind of the heart and soul of modern advocate to use our, our tagline unite and amplify. It’s all about collaboration. You know, we have the success of the Elizabeth Glaser, pediatric aids foundation. Um, one of those major successes being, uh, prevention of mother to child transmission, and the discovery of that simply came through steadfast collaboration, um, and new perspective. And so I’ve wanted to keep that alive, both in my mother’s, uh, name and in so many other people that have contributed to that. And so we push people to collaborate, innovate, and support the growth of this narrative in how can we talk about HIV and aids in a new way? How can we change the messenger? How do we change even the package that it’s wrapped in? Totally. Um, you know, at the end of the day, health is something that we do need to sell to people. And at the end of the day, there’s no reason why a discussion of accessing HIV and aids, uh, treatment care, uh, uh, knowing of your status opportunity to communicate in both your sexual life, your relationship experience, you know, everything that we want to access through that there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be any different than accessing a pair of Nikes.
Tony Morrison
Absolutely. And I love that you, you are, or you are sharing how your is just the beginning, right. And creating movement out of that story. I remember when I was sharing my story, I really, when I was writing everything down, I really was writing out of everything out of anger. You know, how, how society saw me or dates or off color jokes and that context, and to the extent that, you know, if I’m gonna put myself in such a light and in such a public way, you’re all coming, you’re all coming with me sort of deal mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I love that, that resonates with me. And I hope with other people, in terms of sharing your story and bringing others into the fold is just the beginning. It’s the what’s next? What do we do with that power after
Jake Glaser
For sure,
Tony Morrison
In an interview with people not to name drop, but you describe your overcomings as survivors guilt specifically, and to be able to help others, uh, walk me through the phases of that guilt and how you move past that.
Jake Glaser
Yeah. Wow. I mean, it’s, uh, you know, for those people that don’t know the story of my specific family, um, you know, my mother, sister and myself were both, uh, diagnosed HIV positive. Um, my sister and my mother ended up passing away and, and I survived clearly, here I am, and I’m healthy. And, you know, the, um, you know, whether it’s being the one that continues or wasn’t taken by that disease, or by that experience definitely challenges so much of our own view of ourselves. It creates a lot of resentment, a lot of anger. There’s a lot of, um, there’s, there’s a lot of
Jake Glaser
Abandonment that really can sink deep into your experience and processing that grief and going through, uh, really an internalizing and, and self growth experience. I mean, I, I went through, you know, years and years and years and still am. I mean, every day is about self growth and, and better understanding where I came from to make a better version of myself to where I’m going. Um, and so through that survivor guilt, you know, yeah. I spent a lot of time in my teenage years, just pissed off. I was an angry teen. Uh, I had to find my way to really be able to say, you know what, mom, I, I love you and, and thank you for everything. And at the same time, yeah, there’s a part of me that’s, that’s upset. That’s pissed off that you left, you know, and, and owning that and allowing both of those emotions to exist at the same time, I think is a very valuable thing that I’ve learned in my experience, because we, we can have that frustration and have that love and honor them both at the same time.
And so being able to, to really acknowledge that I’m me, my mother was her. My father is who he is, my sisters, who is, she was who she was, and we’re all individuals at the end of the day, and we have our own experience. But yeah, that, you know, that process for me sent me down a, a pretty wild road in, in my teenage years. And, and through my early twenties to, to really dig deep and figure out not only who I was as an individual, but confront the grief of their loss that, that I had buried for so long, I ran from it. I didn’t wanna acknowledge HIV and aids. I didn’t want to find the opportunity, which I’m so grateful. I eventually did to really understand that this experience has really become very empowering. Um, it’s not something that I want to wish on anybody else.
Um, but in owning my experience yeah. Like, you know, recognizing mortality, the, the how life, you know, short life could be. Um, and what are the pages that we wanna leave behind us in that experience? So, you know, it’s, it’s a multitude of, of emotions that you experience going through that survivor guilt and for people out there who, who have lost loved ones, um, whether it’s to HIV or not, you know, it’s, uh, it’s normal. It’s really normal to feel, to feel the frustration to, to want to, to, to scream at the top of your lungs, that you’re just, you know, why did you have to go, you know, and it’s, and it’s doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you or wrong with them. Um, but I, I encourage everybody going through this, a similar experience to also recognize the fact that like those actions and those, those moments in life are, are what made you, who you are, and really do have a silver line to teach you something beautiful about this life, uh, and to live on in their memory. And so it really went from a, a fairly, you know, dark and scary space to, to a very bright, um, experience of carrying on her legacy in my own way. Um, and evolving in my own experience and still to this day, I mean, we never, we’re never free of it. It’s a lifelong process. So yeah, I still have moments where I’m just like, really like,
Tony Morrison
Absolutely. Why,
Jake Glaser
Why, why did you have to go, you know, but at the same time, thank you so much for the sacrifice that she made and my sister and, and countless other lives that, that have been a part of this journey and, and in confronting and, and eventually overcoming HIV and aids as a whole,
Tony Morrison
What is your truth? Who and what is Jake Glaser today?
Jake Glaser
Hmm. My truth, Jake Glaser is a living breathing member of this incredibly beautiful global community, uh, who supports connectivity. This is about connecting through the human experience, showing people that, uh, while whatever circumstances you have in your life and my life might drive us to disconnect, uh, recognize that we share the same feelings and recognize that we can use that as a powerful tool to, to evolve our vibration, to connect on new levels, uh, and really find a way to allow us to create commonality and collaboration to end anything that humanity faces. If we can succeed in, in overcoming HIV in this way, uh, then we’re writing the playbook for future generations to do the same. And so, um, I’m a bright, loving, willing, open, and powerful spirit in my own experience. Uh, and my wish through my truth is to be able to, uh, to leave some of that and to, to allow some of that to rub off on others.
Tony Morrison
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Jake Glaser. Thank you so much. My friend,
Jake Glaser
Thank you, Tony. Take care.
Tony Morrison
You too. To see more truth, be told, check us out@pluslifemedia.com and follow us at plus life media until next time, let your truth be told.