Why I Chose Yeztugo

Listen to the latest in HIV prevention innovation. Ray Delgado, Senior Director of Communications and Community Development at SMCC, talks about his experience being one of the first patients to receive Yeztugo, the new long-acting injectable PrEP. 

Spectrum Medical Care Centre
Maricopa County Community Resources
LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory
Vitalyst Health Foundation

Mental health resources:

Crisis & Suicide Prevention

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988, available 24/7. LGBTQ+ individuals can still call 988 and receive caring, confidential support, though the specialized "Press 3" option is no longer available. EveryMind
• The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth ages 24 and under) — TrevorLifeline: 1-866-488-7386 (24/7) | TrevorText: Text START to 678-678 (24/7) | TrevorChat available at thetrevorproject.org/get-help AFSP
• Trans Lifeline (by and for trans people) — 1-877-565-8860 (US), available 24/7 AFSP
• Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741, available 24/7 Human Rights Campaign
• RAINN National Sexual Assault ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Lavender Lounge. My name is Anna.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

My name is Ray.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

And today we're going to be talking about the new name in HIV prevention called Lena Capavier, also known by Yes2Go. Great. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

I'm good. It's really exciting to talk to you today. Anna and I work together, and it's great to uh sort of connect on this podcast because I not only work at Spectrum Medical, but I'm a new patient uh that is taking Yes2Go and it's exciting to talk to you about that today.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Before we get into Yes2Go, Ray, can you just tell me more about what you do at Spectrum Medical?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yes, but first I have to mention to the viewers that are listening your awesome earrings, which are shots or little needles basically, or injection shots, which is so perfect for today. So it's really setting the tone right. But uh yeah, I'm the senior director of communications at Spectrum Medical. I've been with Spectrum for about four months now, and uh it's been a really exciting uh chapter in my career for me. I've done a lot of communications work and volunteer work in uh the LGBTQ community, but not actually working for a company that um has LGBTQ healthcare and issues at the center of its mission. So it's really cool to be at a place like Spectrum. I'm also new to uh Phoenix. I moved from Los Angeles for this job, so it's really great to be on the Spectrum team at such an exciting time in the company's chapter. We're growing like crazy, and uh we're looking to expand our services to new populations, and um, part of that growth, uh that's part of my job, is to make sure that we have the right partnerships in place to support that growth and make sure people are aware of all the wonderful services we have to offer.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Super well said. Everything you just said, absolutely. And I also heard that you are an avid tennis player. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Is that right? Yeah, pickleball. And of course I've gotten into pickleball now that I'm here in Arizona. It seems like it's all the rage. So yeah, I play tennis a couple times a week. I joined um The Village, which is a cool tennis club. Uh it's a little expensive, but it's worth it when you get this beautiful tennis court facility right under Camelback Mountain. And then I also play pickleball there and I play in the Out Loud Sports Pickleball League as well. So I also play softball in the gay softball league. So I've really jumped into the the life here and trying to get out as much as possible so that I'm meeting people and making new friends in Phoenix. And I I like to do that through sports and activity, so it's been fun.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

That sounds really fun. I need to check that out.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Pickleball's great. You should we should do like a little spectrum team.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, like our own sports team. That'd be so fun. Um, so how did you first get connected with Spectrum Medical? What drew you to our mission?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Um, so I had just gotten laid off from a job at USC in Los Angeles, and I kind of opened up my job search to be bigger than California, and I looked at Arizona and the Pacific Northwest, and um, this position came along and it it checked a lot of my boxes. It was working in the community, which I've done a lot of work in my volunteer life um for LGBTQ causes and uh did a lot of communications work and community development work. And so I was really intrigued by the possibility and I always wanted to live in the desert. I thought it might be Palm Springs first, but yeah, I haven't been through here through a summer yet, but um I definitely wanted to live in the desert. I love to get outdoors. Um, and so I hadn't been to Arizona many times in my life. I'd come for a couple of gay softball tournaments. Um, but I knew that this is a playground for outdoor adventures, off-roading, all that stuff. So when the job was posted, I definitely went for it. I was really excited by it. And then as the as we continue to have the conversations and it was looking more promising, I got really excited about the prospect of moving to Arizona as well. So yeah, it's been great to be here and I'm loving it so far.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

So what has it been like being part of the LGBTQ plus community in Phoenix? Is there any differences from LA? How has that been?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah, um, it's been it is been it has been different. I'm really enjoying it a lot. Um, I'm plugged in a lot more to this community because I um have to do that a lot quite a bit for my job. And so it puts me in environments that um I need to be in for work-wise, and then I'm also getting the social aspect of that as well. So um, I like that the community is kind of centered in one general area. Uh when I lived in Los Angeles, it was really spread out in a lot of different places and made it very hard to get to because of the uh traffic problems in Los Angeles. Um but I really love uh Phoenix a lot for the diversity that's here and um the different people that I've been able to meet. Uh like I said, I'm doing pickleball, I'm doing softball, I'm making a lot of friends through those venues. And, you know, then there's a lot of the same similarities. I mean, there's definitely like a an interesting um group of people here. It's a new friendship pool, it's a new potential dating pool, I'm single, and so there was a lot of pluses about plugging into this uh community. And you know, I didn't realize that Phoenix is such a huge city and metropolis, and I guess it's the fifth largest metropolis in the U.S.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

And it's even getting bigger.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah, and it feels like it's got everything that I possibly need and want in a community. So I've been really pleasantly surprised by everything that is is available to me, and I can plug in where I want to and where I don't. I'm also part of uh the sobriety community as well, and so there's been some really great places that I've gone to meetings and kind of plugged into that community as well, and a lot of welcoming people in that space as well. So I feel like I it's all there for me to plug into. I just find the time to do it, and uh and I definitely have the interest in doing it.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

That's awesome. So I know Ray made Phoenix sound amazing, but also don't come here because we're running out of water. So uh we've we've had enough people as it is. Oh so maybe that's the one thing we don't have is it's a lot more affordable than California too. I feel like the prices are still getting even higher.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

It's it was so cheap, according to like based on what I was paying in Los Angeles for housing in particular. Oh yeah, and the gas is just about almost two dollars less per gallon. Okay. So it's definitely been um eye-opening for for how affordable things are here to me. But that's coming from LA, which was not as expensive as San Francisco, where I lived for over 20 years, so it it is better here for that.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Was there any difference in healthcare access? Because I know California has a very much more robust system than Phoenix does, is what is allegedly the case. Did you see any differences or um That's an interesting question?

SPEAKER_00 7:19

So, I mean, I was always part of Kaiser. Kaiser's kind of the 500-pound gorilla in California. So there was Kaiser in Northern California, and I think all of my healthcare has been through Kaiser throughout my career. And so I didn't know anything different. And when I came here and I got the job with Spectrum, um, you know, I had really the option of United Healthcare, and I've been pretty pleased with that uh experience so far. And um then I also had the choice of where I would go get my services, go to the doctor, go to the clinic. Um, and it was obvious to me that I wanted to try Spectrum Medical itself because I had never had a gay doctor. I had never been to a clinic that was um primarily focused on serving the LGBTQ community. And although it might be a little weird being an employee and a patient, I quickly got over that. You know, my doctor, um, Dr. Grossman, is fantastic. Um, he has been a leader in the field for over like 30 or 40 years. He first opened his first um primary care clinic in response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic back in New York. And so that kind and he's done that work throughout his career. So like having that kind of knowledge base to tap into was really exciting for me. So I didn't do a lot of research on what the other options were because I knew like pretty quickly that I wanna wanted to go with Spectrum. And um part of that reason also was that I didn't know about Yes2go before I started working here. It had been out for a couple of months um and I hadn't seen any advertisements for it. But when I first started working at Spectrum, it was a um a new drug that we were looking to promote to make sure we had built awareness around to our patient population. And so I was part of that effort to do that, and I was like, wait, this sounds too good to be true. Let me look more into this. So that's how I, you know, really approached my own healthcare journey with um choosing Spectrum. And I wouldn't have had that knowledge of YesTugo probably at Kaiser because I definitely felt like when I was a patient at Kaiser, I didn't have a gay doctor, and I would have to be very proactive about asking for services like YesTugo if I if I became aware of it somewhere else. But I don't think they were gonna tell me about it. I don't think it was something they were gonna ever gonna offer me. It was something that I had to be proactive about, and that is a key difference from what I've experienced at Spectrum Medical, is like having that partnership with a gay doctor is really important and key to making sure I'm getting the best health care. So I'm feeling great about it. And it's only been, you know, a couple of doctors' visits and a couple of months of working here. So very happy about it.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

That's a great example of why LGBTQ plus healthcare specifically is so important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Because And I didn't know that even before I started working here. Yeah. Like no, none of my friends, we just don't talk about like the benefits of having a gay doctor or going to a gay um primary care, a specialty group. Um they dur they definitely existed in San Francisco, but nobody would talk about it. I guess something it's you know, your medical care, your medical history isn't something you really discussed very often with your friendship friend groups and friend circles. But, you know, I just never thought to look into that because I was in the Kaiser system. And so I think that's one of the key challenges and opportunities that we have at Spectrum Medical is to really make sure that people are aware of what they could be receiving in terms of good quality health care that's culturally competent and non-judgmental at a place like Spectrum Medical, because if you're not aware of it, you're just gonna go with what you know, but there's something really better out there for you. And I'm here to tell you that that is the case for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Right. And that's community driven that listens to our patients. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. So I'd love to get into more why Yes2go is such a revolutionary new drug. How has that experience been from for you from the perspective of both a patient and an advocate for the community?

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Yeah, so um, you know, I have been um an out gay man since I was 19 years old. I'm 52 now. Um, there were so many years and so many decades of living in fear of HIV and the possibility of infection. And when PrEP came along, and then that was like in the late um 2000s, early 2010s, um that was such a game changer for all of us who had managed to stay HIV negative um through a lot of effort, but to have finally a pill that we could take to prevent HIV infections was huge for us. And so I loved, you know, that that change in um in the approach that we had to our um sexual health and our sexual practices at the time as a community. And then with YastuGo, it's like, you know, so PrEP as Truvata was a daily pill that I would that I've been on since the beginning, basically. I think I waited a couple years before I started taking it, but I think I was started getting on it in 2012. And so it was a daily pill regimen that I've been on since then, and I didn't know that there were two-month and three-month injectable offerings because again, my doctor never told me about it. But when I came to Spectrum and I as an employee, and then I started to work with the team on promoting Yes2Go, I started to pay attention to what it really was. And for me, it was so eye-opening because I couldn't believe that you can just get a shot, it's like a flu shot, and it's gonna protect you for six months and a little bit longer. There's a lot a little bit longer of a window that comes with that protection. And then I didn't have to take the pill anymore. And so I was like, wow, that's great. You know, I can really like take another step in terms of controlling my healthcare, my experiences, and rest assured that I wasn't gonna be um exposed to HIV because I forgot to take my medication. Um, I've had experiences where I have forgotten to take my medication. I went on a trip to Indonesia and I for completely forgot all my pills, my vitamins, my medicines, and you know, I went to the pharmacy there to try to get it and I couldn't get it. And so I just went without, and that was, you know, scary in and of itself. I basically remained celibate on vacation, which really sucked. Um, and so there was just a real like bummer of a moment that I've had over and over again throughout the years of when I missed my medications. And, you know, when I was drinking a lot and drinking too much and having hangover mornings, et cetera, there'd be multiple mornings that I would miss taking medications or just forget to do it. And every and that that thought just lingers with you all the time if you're engaging in sexual practices that you're worried about, you know, you go back to your head about like when did I last take it or when have I forgotten it a lot lately? And there's just always a little bit of uncertainty there that I never felt really comfortable with. So for me, yesugo removes all of that. I mean, it's just like I don't have to worry about it anymore. And um, you know, I still have my daily vitamins and I take those, but I don't have to think about sort of this life or death moment of am I taking this medication and have I forgotten to take the medication? And it's no longer life or death. I shouldn't have said that because it is um, you know, people are living obviously with HIV for a long time, but you know, that that thing that I've been running from for so long is like it's not as big of a looming concern for me because of Yes2Go.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah. I mean, just for the peace of mind alone, yeah, that is such a good idea to take Yes2Go.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

It is, yeah. And it's definitely like to me, it's a just a no-brainer because um, you know, I always get the newest iPhone, right? You know, I always want the new technology. I'm such a little Apple baby um for our all of the things that are new. This is the new advancement in medication that's protecting me from HIV. Right. Why wouldn't I want to take it? Now, of course, I did my due diligence and I wanted to make sure that it was really um foolproof. And, you know, I trust the science behind it. I know that it's been tested for years prior to this, and um the oh the fact that it's over 99.9, I think nine or eight percent effective is incredible to me. I mean, that's uh certainly an assurance that I can take um take to the bank in terms of like my safety is now uh uh insured with this medication. So uh really was happy to go down that road and figure out how I can get it uh for myself. So I'm very, very happy that it came through.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Was the process accessible for you? Was it easy to access? How was that like?

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah, so um the experience at Spectrum Medical was really good because um, you know, I met with our prep navigation team. And so, you know, I think every patient should know that they're gonna meet with a prep navigator, they're going to get tested for HIV to make sure that you're negative before you start, and uh you're gonna get a um an assortment of uh not assortment, a supply of um prep pills to get you through to the time where the injection comes in because you gotta get in you gotta get your insurance to approve it. So the prep navigators are going to meet with you, they're going to evaluate all of the different prep options that Spectrum Medical offers, and you're gonna work with them to figure out if Yes2Go is the best option for you. And in my case, I was already on Trovada, so I knew that I was good with the medication, that it didn't have any side effects for me, and um that I was promoting and really pushing for the six-month injectable option for me and for my lifestyle. And so once we went through that process and uh determined that they would submit me for approval with my insurance, then there was a little bit of a waiting game to make sure that I was approved. I was approved, and then the medication comes in and you go you make a follow-up appointment right away. They let you know when the medication is in, and you come in and you get your shot. It's basically the same thing as a flu shot. You know, it didn't hurt, it was easy and no side effects. And one of the things I really loved about it was that, you know, I always thought about like the daily pill, and they mentioned that there was some risk of the damage that it could be doing to your kidneys. Oh well, the shot definitely doesn't do that. You don't take a daily pill, it's not being processed by your kidneys, right? And I don't think enough people know about that. Like it's really a good additional benefit to uh taking your medication. I mean, I certainly have done a lot of damage to my liver. I didn't want to do anything to my kidneys. So, you know, really for me being on Truvada for 12 years, I mean, I don't think I have any kidney issues from that anyway. But I always thought, oh, what if, you know, how long am I going to be on prep? It could be on prep for decades uh through the oral uh Truvada delivery method. And now I don't have to do that anymore. You know, I'm taking taking a shot every six months. I also really like the fact that um it was clear to me in with Spectrum Medical that, you know, they were also looking out for me in terms of my overall sexual health as I got on Yes2Go because um, you know, it's been made very clear to me I should be coming back every two or three months for STI checks at Spectrum Medical, just making sure that we're not gonna see you now for every six months because your next shot is six months away of Yes2Go, but you need to be coming in if you're sexually active in in between those shots because we want to make sure that you're in good working order and you know you haven't been exposed to any uh STIs, or if you have, that will take care of that and treat that. And that I found to be incredibly proactive. Again, I'm singing the praises of an LGBTQ-focused um healthcare provider and primary care clinic that wants you to be healthy, you know, that is encouraging you to come back in. Yeah, and that's I've never had that level of like proactive care um in any kind of Kaiser experience that I've had throughout the years. So that was another real good benefit of um coming into Spectrum Medical for the shot.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Right. That's amazing because yeah, HIV prevention is not just getting a shot, it's about your whole body, like your whole person healthcare, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Yeah, it's just one part of the overall picture of your sexual health. And when you're out there in the community, um, you know, there's a lot of condomless sex happening right now uh in the community, and um it's become more of the norm because of PrEP, and most people are on PrEP. Um, and so you know the risk of STIs goes up. And certainly we're all aware of the risks, and we've seen, you know, monkeypox and syphilis rates and gonorrhea rates going up. Um, but I'm also, you know, they also talked to me at Spectrum Medical about doxypep and getting on that. Um I'd already been on that, but making sure that I continued on that uh medication as well, which does help if you feel like you've um sh, you know, you've been a little active or for gone to a party or something where you know you you were engaging in um condomless sex, that you should potentially take this medication within 72 hours uh to lower the risk of any STI infections. That's another game changer. And that's part of what you what Spectrum is talking to you about as a patient to make sure that you are completely healthy on all fronts, you know, that you're definitely addressing how you're living your life and how you're um practicing um your sexual practices basically in terms of how you can use medication to make sure that you remain as healthy as possible.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Right. And if this literally prevents a life-threatening, immunocompromising disease, that does seem like a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

And years and decades of medications and doctor visits. I mean, it's so the insurance question I think is really interesting because you know, I know Yes Tugo can be an expensive drug for people out of the box. You know, it's something it's an expensive drug for insurance to cover. So you wonder, you know, when you're waiting if they're going to cover it. But I think the calculation is that, you know, if we can prevent an HIV infection with this drug up front, we're saving tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars. uh future healthcare problems or needs if you were to become HIV positive because we didn't approve YesTugo. So I'm pretty sure I mean I'm not an insurance company. I don't work there and I haven't talked to them about this, but I think that's probably the rationale behind it and why an expensive drug like Yes2go is covered. I was really grateful for that. You know, I think you know we've all had and heard horror stories about insurance companies and coverage denials and I was a little worried about it, but it came through. And you know the other really great thing was that Gilead has a copay um assistance program. So when I was approved for Yes2go, um I was notified that this copay um program would also kick in and would cover the rest of it. So it didn't end up costing me anything which was great. I might have I think it was maybe $25 for the visit the office visit. And that's it. So it was pretty very affordable and grateful that it got covered.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

And then can you just go into um can you just go into uh okay do you need to be insured? Like what happens if you're uninsured? How does that change?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Yeah so um it helps to have insurance certainly and most insurances cover Yes2Go from my understanding but for people that are uninsured um Spectrum Medical the prep team the prep navigation team will help you find options with any kind of medication that could become available to you. And I know Gilead has a program that does provide Yes2go free of cost to people that may not have insurance but are um in need of the medication. So I would definitely encourage people to reach out to Spectrum Medical or to their own healthcare providers if you're listening outside of Arizona and aren't a patient of Spectrum I would encourage them to really reach out to their providers and figure out the ways. There's always ways of getting these medications even if it's not Yes2Go, but it is PrEP, Truvataform or one of the other two month injectable programs, you know, there's ways of getting that covered because again you know public health is supporting a lot of this as well where they want people to be on prep to um get reduce HIV infections, reduce HIV rates in their municipalities and making sure that um people are really not converting into in and um sorry let me start that over again they really want to make sure that people are safe and um do not obtain HIV so that they definitely don't incur those long-term expenses of being on HIV medications for life. So there's a lot of ways to explore that you know definitely um researching uh the different pharmaceutical companies and their websites and their assistance programs should lead people down the right path to figuring out what is the best solution for getting it covered.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Yeah that's awesome so there's lots of options there's lots of options out there. And would you say that Yes2go is for everyone and anyone can take it it should be for everyone how what are your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Oh that's a good question. So um yes I think yes2go is certainly a good option for anyone that's sexually active and um is worried that they might be um exposed to somebody that is um HIV positive and might not know it and might be at high risk of transmission. I think it is definitely you know available to I think there you know it's really becoming popular in the gay community. I know there's a lot of um gay men that have been sort of talking about it. When I've been out um for Spectrum at different events and promoting um sorry let me start that again. When I myself have been out in public events um talking about YesTugo and our other prep options that we offer at Spectrum Medical people are really curious about it and really interested in finding out more and finding out what my experience was like and did I have any side effects and um you know there was a lot of questions. One of the things that people really want to know about is like you know there is um reports of like a little bump that comes into either your side of your abdomen where you get the shot because you're getting a little medicine depot in there. Yeah and it's like a little badge of honor for me and you know worried about like how does it what does it look like or anything like that. And you know I I just assure them that it's really not a big deal. It's sort of a badge of honor because you have um this little medicine depot. It's like your your stamp of approval of you know you're taking good care of your health and so um you know I think that's one of the questions that I get. I think you know it's it's certainly um an option for um anyone in other communities that you know where they're in rural communities or um places that are a little bit harder to access good primary health care. Having the ability to come in to a major city where Yes2go is obtained and get your shot and go live your life for six months and then come back every six months that makes it a lot more accessible for a lot of people in rural areas because um you know having to come in every for my case with PrEP, it was every three months I would have to come in, I would have to do my labs at Kaiser and I would get a three month supply of PrEP. But I know that it's for other people it can be needing to come in every one month or every two months and that is a harder hurdle to clear if you have transportation problems or you just you know financially can't afford to come to a place where you can get Yesugo. So yeah I mean I think that one of the really great things about my experience with Spectrum Medical is we talked through that question and made sure that it was right for me. I think any good responsible healthcare provider is going to make sure that they're presenting a suite of options for prep to their patients and figuring out with that patient based on their lifestyle what works for them and what is the best option for them and then what your insurance will cover and how that's going to work. So I think that you know I certainly had that experience it was clear to me that Yes2go was the way to go for my own benefit, for my own uh lifestyle and that was um you know that I knew was likely to be covered from my insurance. So um yeah I think everyone should really just go down that road. I mean it's sort of your alert you're on like an information gathering expedition to figure out what is your best healthcare option. You know you're going down a grocery aisle and selecting from the best options and testing and seeing what's going to work from you before you finally make that final selection. Yeah. And it can take time right yeah definitely yeah and research you know use AI tools use Chat GPT like figure out or Claude uh figure out which one is best um for you you can you know hear a lot of the pros and cons for each of the medications. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

But that's what really stands out to me about Yastuga and why I honestly am so have this renewed hope that the HIV pandemic might truly get eliminated in the future is because it not only increases access to people in rural areas like you were saying but now it will also decrease stigma. Yeah right because stigma is still a big issue with going into a clinic.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Yeah and one of the things that I heard when we were promoting and sorry one of the things I heard when we were first um informing our community about Yes2go was that there certainly are a number of people who would benefit from PrEP but don't want their other people in their households to know they're on PrEP because of stigma. And so having a pill bottle around where you had to take a daily medication was a barrier that they didn't want to um overcome because uh they were worried about being caught for having PrEP. There's still a lot of people that are in the closet there's a lot of people on the down low that are not that might have a primary partner of this of the opposite gender, but they have other relations outside of that relationship that that person is not aware of and they want to protect themselves from HIV infection with PrEP and didn't feel like they could have that pill bottle around or would have to hide it. So yes Tugo is another game changer for sure for those people as well because you're coming in every six months to get a shot and um you don't have the evidence around of the pill bottle necessarily so I think it's really helpful for a lot of people and um I think just the awareness that has been sort of um spreading throughout the community making sure that young people, younger LGBTQ folks are aware of medications that are available and how to protect themselves as they're coming out and becoming sexually active and you know autonomous adults that are out in the field playing the field, you know, making sure that they're aware that they have these options available to them. You know, HIV is not the threat it was for me when I was first coming out and there were people dying all around me in my community. Oh my God. Yeah I certainly I mean I had the I one of the first things I did as a gay man was I volunteered at the Shanti project as a 21 year old that had just come out two years ago and wanted to give back to my community by helping people that were living with AIDS and suffering and there was no cure. There were the medications were not um developed yet to really help people live long lives with HIV. And so two of my first people that I got matched with died of AIDS and then the third one that I got matched with thankfully he lived um pretty long I think it was about eight years that I was helping him on a weekly basis with his chores and errands and things around the house. But we became really good friends. His name was Dennis and um eventually the uh disease took over and he died and um and I stopped volunteering after that like the emotional toll of seeing people that um had to live with this disease and my luck was being born a couple of years later than a lot of these others that had you know come out a few years earlier and didn't know about that. So you know for me it's really personal to be able to um talk about these kinds of medications that are going to help people really live a full and productive life without the fear of HIV. And Yesugo for me, I mean I can't tell you like now I just don't think about it. I don't worry about whether whether I took the pill or not and know I'm protected and I go out there and I have another level of confidence behind me because um I know I'm I'm safe you know and that it was like a real relief to feel that way for the first time well since I was an adult basically because I've always lived under the threat of HIV and I still I still do to a certain extent of course I'm taking as two go but it's so much less of a concern now because I know that I'm protected with this medication.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah thank you so much for sharing that because that really sets the context of why this is such a game changer right because that history happened honestly kind of recently right yeah like I think people often forget that that was pretty recent.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

It is very recent I think um one of the things that we're thinking about at Spectrum Medical too is really how to spotlight the past so that we learn from the past because there's so many people um there was a there was an epidemic you know we lived through an epidemic and we're still living through it there's still no cure for HIV but there's a great sort of array of medications that are helping people live long lives that are HIV positive and there's also medications that are helping people prevent becoming HIV positive and that is such an incredible movement for the community for the science the world of science as well to be able to develop those medications um but you know there is a whole new generation of LGBTQ youth and young adults that have come out that didn't have that experience, you know, that didn't really see what it was like to have so many people lost in the community and I'm constantly reminded of that as I see people older than me that are thriving gay men of what they've lost and what kind of baggage they have and what kind of guilt that they might be living with because we live through a plague and I certainly didn't go through the worst of it. The people the generation or even the half generation before me did but I'm very aware of it and I really want other people to be aware of it. Just because knowledge is power for people you know don't want anyone to live in fear of what happened in the past but just to know that these medications a lot of people died because to try to get these medications you know that there was a lot of casualties along this pathway towards a better healthy future for LGBTQ folks that has come with revolutions in medications like PrEP and this new step is Yes2go. And I think it is really going to help a lot of people out in the community because they're not gonna you know miss doses now and put themselves at risk and it should we should see as a community falling HIV um rates happening throughout throughout the nation because of this drug. So I'm hopeful that that we're gonna see that in a couple of years' time.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

I think we will I think we will and I love that you said knowledge is power because I feel like that should be our the whole focus of the podcast right is we want to empower you with the knowledge to make the best decisions for your life and yeah it's just so wild to me that you know with HIV there's also that added stigma to it right where it was unjustly placed on the LGBTQ plus community incorrectly where it's still impacting how the LGBTQ plus community is getting care. Because imagine if people did that about cancer or other epidemics that happen which which they have um because imagine like you have a vaccine against cancer like wouldn't you want to get that right?

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Yeah that's a really good analogy too and like certainly cancer um people afflicted with cancer um do not s suffer the same stigma that we do as a community and we're seeing that in our greater environment with this particular administration and the attacks on the trans community there's certainly I think a lot more reticence for about coming out as a gay person these days because it just doesn't feel safe for a lot of people. So really making sure that um you know we try to reduce the stigma that's one of the things that I'm really excited about working at Spectrum Medical is that we really go out there and we meet people where they're at. We have a great community outreach team and we're very positive. We've got a a neon green colored outreach van that looks great in the community and it's very sex positive and really making sure that um we're meeting the community where they're at and that they're able to access services and come in and feel welcome and um good about that. I can tell you that you know my experience when I first had to go get tested for HIV was in dirty little dingy clinics in the warehouse district of San Francisco and it was such an awkward experience because you'd go in to this clinic and you were doing the walk of shame and wondering about like what did I do during the last time since I since the last time I got tested just totally worried about what the result might be and looking around at all the other people in the waiting room and judging them and they were judging you. And it was just awkward and cringe with and you wouldn't want to do it again and it really probably prevented a lot of people from going back as often as they should have because it just wasn't a welcoming inviting experience for most.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

I already hate going to the doctor that would set me over the edge I'd be like bye.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Right, right. So I think we're doing you know we're moving into a new space at Spectrum Medical and um you know we like to think of it as being we're designing a premier space for people to feel welcomed and great about their healthcare. And so that's I think a really key thing for people to just reduce the hurdles to accessing care because yes, let's face it nobody loves to go to the doctor but if it's a pretty warm and welcoming and non-judgmental experience that's great. You know I think everybody deserves that. And I've certainly had that experience so far at Spectrum Medical and I'm really um hoping that others will come see what it's all about because we're when we move into that new space I mean I think it's gonna be um changing the game for uh LGBT folks in Phoenix and the Phoenix area um in terms of how they can access really good inclusive uh affirming care.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Absolutely I feel like other healthcare clinics are gonna get jealous that are like non-LGBTQ plus we are going to be the standard for healthcare in this area for sure. Yeah I love that. If Ray's story resonated with you please look in your area for a Yes2go provider or a clinic that is able to get you connected with an affirming provider such as the LGBTQ plus healthcare directory. You can also contact us at spectromedicalcare.org to get linked to our provider if you're in the Phoenix area and if you're not there's so many options available for you to take charge of your own health. Ray thank you so much for being on the Lavender Lounge it's been great having you on thank you I also want to thank Vitalist for sponsoring this episode Vitalist Health Foundation is dedicated to transforming communities and increasing equitable access to healthcare so thank you so much Vitalist for sponsoring our podcast