He didn’t even consider treatment because the thought of running into someone he knew at the doctor’s office terrified him. 'And for me, that wasn’t the case.'īut just the fear of being judged was enough to make Austin ignore his diagnosis. He was afraid people would make assumptions about him. He was ashamed, he said, because HIV is highly stigmatized in the African-American community. He was 19 years old.Īustin didn’t tell anyone about his diagnosis, not his friends, not even his mother.
He was hanging out with people he shouldn’t have, he said, and he was date raped. Adonis Austin was diagnosed with HIV four years ago while attending college in Georgia.
