Philipp Spiegel

My story in BBC Mundo – about my diagnosis and the challenging years to follow; about dating, self reflection and love. After this was posted on the BBC I had received more messages than ever before. People from all over Latin and South America started writing me beautiful messages. Some thankful, some sad, telling me their stories. From Columbia, Cuba, Peru, Chile, Ecuador…the list goes on. Making me realize once more how grateful I am to be in Western Europe, to have friends and family around me who never discriminated, to have fantastic doctors, facilities and treatment and to be surrounded in an atmosphere where conservative structures aren’t as oppressive as elsewhere in the world. Of course there’s still a lot to do, even here. But we’ve come a long way. I’m always surprised how the impact of an HIV diagnosis can be so vastly different - depending on your location , your gender, your sexual orientation, even your family relations.