After keeping his HIV diagnosis a secret for a decade, last fall “Project Runway” contestant Mondo Guerra shared his status on national television — a decision that propelled him to join a national campaign that seeks to alleviate the stigma that kept him and countless others from sharing their struggle.
Guerra will be on hand at the 25th annual AIDS Walk Philadelphia, kicking off at 9 a.m. Oct. 16 at Eakins Oval.
Guerra, the runner-up on last season’s popular fashion show, will appear with fellow “Project Runway” alum Jack Mackenroth, the show’s first openly HIV-positive contestant, to represent Mackenroth’s Living Positive by Design campaign.
In an episode that aired last September, Guerra revealed to the show’s judges that the inspiration for one of his designs — covered in plus signs — was his own experience as an HIV-positive man, an aspect of his life he kept from his family since his 2000 diagnosis.
“I grew up in a very religious Latino, Catholic background, and I always felt like a failed man because of the machismo stigma associated with being Latino and the values and traditions expected in the Latino community — being gay isn’t one of those traditions,” he said. “So I always just felt like I’d disappointed my parents by being gay and then to be both HIV-positive and gay, I thought it would have just hurt my family too much.”
However, once he went public with his status, he knew he’d need to prepare his family for the episode, which was pre-recorded.
“I didn’t want them to find out without warning so I had dinner and told them very hesitantly that I had something to tell them that they may not understand or that might upset them and then I just finally told them I’d been positive for 10 years. How else can you say it?” Guerra said. “And my mom actually told me that she knew. I’d been sick with PCP [pneumocystis] pneumonia twice in three years and she just had those motherly instincts. But she told me how proud she was of me because I could finally just let go and she was excited I could have the opportunity to maybe inspire someone else.”
Mackenroth launched Living Positive by Design in 2008, along with Merck & Co., to educate the public about the misconceptions that contribute to the negative stigma attached to HIV/AIDS and encouraging those with the disease to face it head-on, with a positive outlook.
As part of Living Positive by Design, Guerra has had the chance to attend HIV/AIDS events throughout the nation and, while he said he hopes his own journey inspires others, he also has had his “eyes opened” to the vast impact of the disease — hearing poignant stories from children who are positive and a friend whose parents both have HIV.
Heightening awareness of the real people the disease affects goes hand-in-hand with alleviating the stigma associated with it, Guerra said, an idea he is particularly hoping to spread to Latino communities, who, according to the Centers for Disease Control, are disproportionately impacted by HIV.
“Coming off [‘Project Runway’] and being visible, I think I have a responsibility to keep the conversation open about HIV/AIDS and to combat the stigma,” he said, noting that members of his own family have begun to educate themselves about the disease since he came out as positive. “They never sought out that information before because they didn’t have a face to put to the disease but now they do, and now they talk about it and ask questions. But people don’t talk about HIV as much as they should because they’re still scared and that makes that stigma even worse — I was in hiding for 10 years, and there was a reason for that. So it’s something that needs to be put out on the table and addressed.”
While the public discussion on HIV/AIDS has come a long way since AIDS Walk first started in 1987, Robb Reichard, executive director of AIDS Fund, which stages the annual walk, said the conversation needs to be renewed to contend with the ongoing epidemic.
“Here we are, 25 years later, still walking to raise funds and awareness of HIV/AIDS in our community,” he said. “We still have an epidemic in the U.S. and right here in our own backyard. One in five gay and bisexual men in major urban cities are HIV positive, but almost half of them don’t know it, because they haven’t had a recent HIV test.”
For more information or to register for the walk, visit www.aidswalkphilly.org.
Check-in for the 5K run begins at 7 a.m., with the run setting off an hour later. Registration for the walk starts at 7:30 a.m., followed by the opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m.
For more information about Living Positive By Design, visit www.livingpositivebydesign.com.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].
