What’s very real is the need for community—just how isolating living with HIV and other complex chronic illnesses can be. There’s a real need to connect on those bases.
Gabriel San Emeterio, LMSW (they/she/he), is a queer and disabled activist, educator, and social worker from Mexico City. They teach at the City University of New York and Columbia University, with a focus on macro social work, social policy, disability justice, and gender and sexuality studies. Their lived experience with HIV, ME/CFS, and other complex chronic conditions informs their scholarship, teaching, and advocacy. Gabriel is the lead of the HIV Complexities Project, a co-founder of Strategies for High Impact and Long COVID Justice, and a steering committee member of the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus.
What Would an HIV Doula Do? is a community of people joined in response to the ongoing AIDS crisis. We understand a doula as someone who holds space during times of transition. We understand HIV as a series of transitions that begin long before being tested, that continue after treatment and beyond. We know that since no one gets HIV alone, no one should have to live with HIV alone. We doula ourselves, each other, institutions and culture. Foundational to our process is asking questions.