This is what happens when stigma goes unchecked! Find out how 35-year #HIV survivor, @MariaHivMejia leads by example!

The following is a transcript of the conversation between Karl and Maria.

MARIA
If I save one life, my mission is complete.

KARL
Welcome to PlusLife. We’re all about turning positive into a plus and Maria Mejia does that daily. She empowers people through her activism. Good to see you again, my friend.

MARIA
Very good to see you as well, Karl. It is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you again.

KARL
You really do take pride in empowering people and you really do use your voice and your platform to educate people. I know speaking particularly to girls and women is important for you. When did this moment come about for you, when you went, “This is what I have to do.”

MARIA
Okay. This happened 25 years ago but I was a little bit kind of like in the HIV closet, so I was comfortable in small settings like hospitals, churches, jails. I have been very, very fortunate to be able to reach people from all backgrounds, all religions, no religions. I have followers that are from 12 years old, all the way to 80, mentors of mine. And a lot of men follow me as well that are HIV negative which is super important. But as a woman, as a gender woman it was very important for me because if you notice all in the United States and around the world. There’s not really, no spaces for us. I’m a very proud global ambassador and card member for the WELL Project which is a woman and girls organization that empowers women. And I have been with them for many, many years. So when I started with them maybe 12, 13 years ago, that’s when I told my expartner back then who was Lisa and now he’s a trans man, his name is Lee. And I said, “Listen, I’m gonna come out and I know when I’m gonna come out. I’m gonna come out in a huge way. And, but I know that you might get discriminated because of the stigma.” And they’re like, “I know that that’s your mission. You’ve been doing this for a long time and I know you’re gonna touch many lives.” And I said, “You know if I save one life, my mission is complete.” It’s not about the numbers, it’s about empowering and saving lives. And, but I have been fortunate to reach all corners of the world.

KARL
Yeah. And I want to go back a little bit to when you were diagnosed, ’cause you were diagnosed in 1991. You didn’t start treatment for 10 years, I know in my case, like I was diagnosed and I didn’t start treatment for a a while because at the time where I lived, those were kind of the health guidelines. I don’t think that was the case here in the States. What was the reasoning for your delay in treatment, I guess?

MARIA
HIV was transmitted to me by my first boyfriend in 1988, at the age of 15. But I didn’t know it. He didn’t know it either. He was a teenager as well and he passed a long time ago. I didn’t know I had HIV. So a few years, let’s say a couple years down the line in 1991, I decided to kind of like change my life around because I grew up in a very violent environment. I’m a nonactive gang member, basically that grew up in a lot of violence. And I decided to leave ’cause I knew that was not my foundation. I went to a place called Job Corp which is like a second opportunity, like vocational school. So they did random tests to all of us for pregnancy, for everything. And when I received the news that I had HIV, it was over, you know, it was a death sentence. My mother, my brother and I decided to go back to where I was born Medillin Columbia and back there we had no support groups. I didn’t know anyone with HIV. There was no medicine, there was no information, there was nothing, just a death sentence. And I had to live with a stigma. So stigma, my mom sat me down and I know she meant, you know, she protecting me ’cause there’s a lot of ignorance, especially back then with a ultraconservative Catholic family. It’s not easy. So she said, “We’re not gonna tell anyone in the family or friends that you have HIV. We’re gonna say it’s either lupus or leukemia.” And we came up with leukemia, like it was a lie for 10 years until I got tired of it. And so ultimately, as we know, without treatment, I almost died. I went down to 39 T cells and I also had cancer in my uterus. I’m in remission of that as well. So I was dealing with that as well. Came back to the US. My doctor, my late doctor, Dr. Oprah, told me, “Maria, how do you feel?” Said, “I feel like I’m dying. Like a candle is withering away.” He goes, “You are dying and if you don’t get on treatment I give you less than a month to live. Are you ready?” And I said, “I’m ready.” And I got on treatment and four weeks I became undetectable. And I’ve been undetectable since the year 2001.

KARL
It’s a common story in your culture, in your community where family, wellmeaning family members say, “We’re not gonna tell anyone. We’re gonna call it lupus or we’re gonna call it leukemia.” What do you do in your activism and in the way you use your voice these days to speak to those people in your community? Those type of people, and also….

MARIA
All communities.

KARL
Yeah, all communities. But you know, specifically, you know culturally it’s a thing.

MARIA
Yes. Well, what I do is I show my face to humanize the condition and educate. I am a fierce treatment advocate. Now we have the exceptional and wonderful tool of you equals you. So you cannot fight science. So what I do is when they see me ’cause they show sometimes I have they have told me that, you know they have shown my videos of YouTube that I did a long time ago to all their family and sat them down like a family gathering where I’m speaking you know, directly to the family. Or sometimes they wanna even disclose to their children that they have HIV. And so, you know the parents and they don’t know how to tell the children. So they ask me, “Can you do a video talking to my child and explaining to them that they’re gonna be okay and that I, as a mother or a father, I’m going to be okay as well.” So I lead by example and I’m a 35 year longterm survivor. I’m still here, still fighting, you know sometimes, you know, you do get tired because I’m a human being. Everybody gets tired, you know, but I push myself every day. Like I said, leading by example is extremely important. Talking about, because I have been in both sides, no treatment and treatment. So when someone comes to me and tells me, “Oh my God, my life is over, I’m gonna die and this and this and that.” I say, “Wait, wait, wait a minute.” I don’t mean to, ’cause I’m like a little bit of like a drill sergeant sometimes I’m like, tough love. I’m like, “Listen, we already were the Guinea pigs. We already have everything for you. We have social media.” I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the founder of the largest international support group in the world in English and in Spanish. And so all those people from Latin America, from India, in the Middle East, places where there is a lot of extreme stigma. Russia, you know, I mean, it’s all over really. The message is the same. That this is a human condition.

KARL
Maria, thank you so much for joining me. It’s always really great to see you and I feed off your energy. And thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for everything you do. Thank you for your time.

MARIA
Thank you, as well. Bye. Adios.

KARL
Bye. That’s gonna do it for this episode of “Plus Talk.” If you want more information, go to our website pluslifemedia.com and remember to follow us across social media platforms. We are @PlusLifeMedia, and we’ve got all of Maria’s information up on the website, too. Until next time, be nice to one another. Be kind and be safe. See you soon.