These men are taking naked shower selfies to help fight the stigma of HIV
A new social media campaign to fight the stigma people living with HIV face, in which people take a photo of themselves in the shower using the hashtag ‘#weareALLclean’.
The campaign is based around the idea that asking “are you clean”, referring to HIV status, is offensive, and implies that anyone who is HIV positive is somehow “dirty”.
On dating apps, gay men sometimes include the term “clean” to mean HIV negative, and sometimes will ask partners if they are “clean”.
It was started by Jack Mackenroth, who aims to raise $1 million (£634,000) for Housing Works, which works to fight AIDS homelessness in New York.
“As someone who has been living with HIV for 25 years this is very personal to me.” Mackenroth said.
“There is current urgency for funding as we have new treatments that maintain viral suppression and render HIV-positive individuals virtually non-transmissible. Those same treatments can be given to HIV-negative individuals and protect them from infection. Essentially we already have the tools to stop the epidemic from spreading. Exciting new research is bringing us closer to a real cure for AIDS every day.”
Since it started earlier this week, the campaign has earned over $1,000 for the campaign. Some have criticised it for being an excuse for gratuitous nudity, but the campaign requests that people do not post explicit photos. Many have taken to social media to post a photo.
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