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Health Fair To Focus on Latinos

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST

Luis Gonzalez must take 24 pills five times a day for full blown AIDS. When he tested positive for HIV in 1988 "Everyone I knew was dying," he says.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: October 15, 2008

When Luis Gonzalez learned he had tested positive for HIV in 1988, he was devastated. "I cried for weeks," he remembers. "Everyone I knew was dying."

His family's reaction to his disease didn't help. His mother threw him out of the house, telling him he was a disgrace to the family, Gonzalez says. At a family gathering, a relative brought a bottle of bleach and pointedly doused all of the dishes Gonzalez had used.

To help ease the pain of an HIV diagnosis and in honor of the last day of National Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Tampa Bay AIDS Network, a division of Gulf Coast Community Care, has organized Latinos United Conquering HIV/AIDS Health Fair today, Wednesday, Oct. 15, in downtown New Port Richey. Gulf Coast Community Care is a subsidiary of the St. Petersburg Gulf Coast Family Jewish Services.

The event will include free confidential HIV and sexually transmitted diseases testing, outreach to the HIV community and medical referrals. It will also have representatives from the Pasco County Health Department, pharmaceutical companies and nutritionists. Local vendors will provide free samples. Additionally, there will be live music.

Two decade after his positive HIV test, Gonzalez, who now has full blown AIDS, still is estranged from about half of his family.

Their reaction would probably have been no different had he been straight, reflects Gonzalez, who is gay. No matter what his sexual orientation, his family would have probably assumed he was gay. "In the Latino family, the stigma of being gay and AIDS goes hand in hand," he notes.

He has finally reconciled with his parents after a nine-year split from his mother and a 17-year break from his father.

That is not all that uncommon among his Latino friends, he says.

Gulf Coast Community Care's caseworker Midhraid "Ray" Torres echoes Gonzalez's observation. "For lots of Latinos, the fear of their families knowing is the fear of being shunned."

In the Latino community, HIV/AIDS is commonly regarded as a homosexual condition, making it difficult for HIV-positive Latino heterosexual men, Torres notes.

But heterosexuals get off easy when compared to gay HIV patients. "Being gay is bad enough, but being gay and HIV-positive is almost like being dirty," said Torres.

Also common in the Latino community is the belief that being infected by HIV and having AIDS is the same thing. HIV is a virus that infects cells in the immune system. It can lead to AIDS, when the immune system begins to fail, making the body vulnerable to serious infections.

There is an urgent need to shine light on HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, Torres observes. Latinos accounted for 19 percent of the new AIDS cases diagnosed in 2006, even though they are only 15 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The rate of new infections among Latinos was three times higher than that of whites.

To educate the community, Tampa Bay AIDS has a Minority AIDS Initiative support group for Latinos and African Americans, another group with high numbers of HIV/AIDS. It is one of the groups AIDS patient Gonzalez attends. Attendees can get information ranging from the latest AIDS drugs to tips on nutrition. It has also become a place to develop camaraderie with fellow HIV/AIDS patients. "What started out as an informative gathering has become an emotional gathering," says Gulf Coast's Torres.

Tampa Bay AIDS also has a food pantry that feeds more than 400 individuals and families with HIV/AIDS, provides medical referrals, HIV outreach and prevention service and HIV testing. All services are free.

Although today's event coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month, it is solely for Latinos, according to Torres.

"We hope the whole community benefits," said Torres. "HIV and AIDS touch the lives of everyone. Everybody has had either loved ones or friends or knows of someone who has had to deal with HIV and AIDS."

The event is from noon to 8 p.m. today, Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Cavalaire Square, a city park in downtown New Port Richey, on Missouri Avenue, east of Grand Boulevard.

For information on HIV or AIDS call Torres at 727-816-1235, or visit Gulf Coast Community Care at 5744 Missouri Ave., New Port Richey.

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