There is a killer that’s been in the Deaf community for more than 20 years. We have battled the disease and hoped for a cure while we watch this disease destroy our beloved friends, relatives, and lovers. We remember with love those people who have died of this disease called AIDS.

We must fight against this enemy in our community by behaving responsibly.

Have you thought about your sexual behaviors and whether or not they are safe? If you aren’t careful, you can easily catch the killer disease. Drinking alcohol or using drugs can impact your judgment, and that leads to dangerous sexual activity. Because of the alcohol or drugs, you may not think clearly.

Protecting yourself every time you have sex (safe sex) means you made the decision to take care of yourself. Learn about the behaviors that put you at risk of catching HIV, the virus that causes the disease AIDS. Always be aware of what is going on in your environment and protect yourself, because the killer is waiting for you to make a small mistake.

Having sex with a partner without a condom is absolutely dangerous, right? There are more dangerous sexual behaviors. How about a blowjob or giving head without a condom or saran wrap? You can get HIV from both of these because of fluids from the body. Or how about this one: a partner tells you that he or she is clean and you don’t need to worry about using a condom Dead wrong. You can still catch HIV because you cannot look at a person and know for sure whether or not they have HIV. What about lesbians? Do you think they have a low chance of getting HIV because they are women? Wrong. The killer virus can get in their body if they don’t have safe sex. What about sucking the breast of a woman who just had a baby and who has the HIV virus? You could catch HIV from doing this.

What about self-esteem? Did you know that when a person feels bad about themselves it might lead to dangerous sexual behaviors?

You may wonder how can you join us and help us to fight against HIV. Here’s what you can do:

• Get to know yourself and listen to yourself. Change your decisions that might put you at risk.
• Find out if you have HIV or not. It’s easy to take an HIV test.
• Always wear a condom each time you have sex. Never go down without a condom.
• Reduce your drinking and using drugs so that you have a clear mind.
• Talk with your partner about sex and condom.
• Love yourself and treat yourself like a queen or king. Say no to sex without a condom. Or be abstinent (no sex).