Celebrate Your Lives, and Think of Me as I Fight for Mine

By Tim Hinkhouse

From TheBody.com

 

November 22, 2016

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Tim Hinkhouse (Credit: Selfie by Tim Hinkhouse)

Hello there readers:

My editor JD at TheBody.com asked me to write a contribution for World AIDS Day reflecting on this past year or this upcoming 2017. As usual, I am hoping for a cure in 2017. Thanks to modern-day science, we have medicines that will suppress the HIV virus and allow a longer life for us.

This past year, I have encountered some discrimination because of my HIV. I have made new allies for the same reason. I am amazed at how open-minded the millennials are about this and how informed they are. There must be easier access to information about HIV with the internet, and they have curiosity and want to be informed. That is a blessing to those who are afraid to ask people questions about uneasy topics such as HIV issues.

With me not having direct internet access, I am unable to follow the progression of new medicines, treatments and articles put out about the HIV virus. I am at the mercy of people who print and snail-mail me the information so I can read it for my own research. As any of you know who follow my blog, my entire focus this year has been on getting information about ending the discrimination and the criminalization of HIV. This is in an effort to get out of prison via a clemency application asking the governor of the state of Oregon for mercy and a second chance after more than two decades in prison.

Here we are post-election, and Kate Brown gets to keep her seat as the governor of Oregon. I haven't heard anything about her official position on criminal justice reform. As an inmate, all I really have is the "prison grapevine," which is rumors, wishful thinking and some made up stuff.
Does anyone reading this know anything about her take on the prisons in Oregon? Can anyone look online and let me know what you can find out?

Looking ahead to 2017 and beyond, I have to wonder where I'll be and if I'll make it another year on this earth. In March, I will have been HIV positive for 27 years. I think back to all of the lives lost in the '80s and '90s that didn't have the chance to survive and see all the progress made with medicines to treat HIV.

One of my favorite rock bands was Queen. I loved the foot stomping and hand clapping of "We Will Rock You!" They had lots of great songs in those days. Before I was old enough to understand why Freddie Mercury was the frontman of a band called "Queen," I loved to sing along with the music. When I learned that Freddie had AIDS and was dying, I cried like I lost a relative that I was close to and would miss. Whenever I hear his voice on the radio, I still tear up.
Several people I've read about lost their fight to the AIDS virus. I felt a loss of connection to someone who could have lived on doing great things. Look at Ryan White, and the Care Act of 1990 put in place to memorialize him and help people pay for their HIV medications that they couldn't afford otherwise. Think about if he were alive today and all the great things he would do to advocate for those of us with HIV. Rest in peace kid, you are missed by those of us who wish you weren't taken so young.

I want to encourage all of you reading this to honor the memories of those that you've lost to HIV/AIDS. I have yet to see the entire AIDS Quilt. Does anyone have photos of this precious fabric that they could email to me? World AIDS Day is our time to come together and support friends and families of our brothers and sisters who are passed on, and those who are still here with us.

Celebrate your lives as if you are survivors, because we all are! Please think of me in this fight for my freedom and my fight to stay alive for many more years. Should you want to share your thoughts about what December 1st each year means or represents to you, I'd love to hear about it!
Stay healthy and stay safe.

Tim Hinkhouse has been in prison in Oregon for almost as long as he has been living with HIV (27 years) because of stigmatizing and unfair nondisclosure laws. If you'd like to write to Tim (as he mentions above) his address is: Tim Hinkhouse #7632447; Two Rivers Correctional Inst.; 82911 Beach Access Rd.; Umatilla, OR 97882. You can also email him at hi.timothy7019@gmail.com.

Read Tim's blog, HIV on the Inside.

Read more articles from The Body, here.