To mark our 10-year anniversary, The Positive Side caught up with the HIV-positive people who have graced our cover.
Interviews by RonniLyn Pustil
SUMMER 2011, Volume 13 Issue 1 - We're feeling nostalgic. Since our first
issue in fall/winter 2001, when Aboriginal activist Kecia Larkin posed for the cover just
days before giving birth, The Positive Side magazine has covered life with HIV by
sharing the stories of those who are living it. Leafing through the past 17
issues, we at CATIE were amazed at all the passionate, courageous,
enchanting voices we've had the honour of publishing.
You may not know this, but those 17 issues represent only the current
incarnation of the publication. Originally a newsletter, The Positive Side was published a
full 10 years earlier in 1991 by the Treatment Information Exchange, a fledgling Toronto
community group dedicated to sharing between people with HIV what little we knew about
HIV at the time. From the start, The Positive Side published holistic health
information that expressed the real-life experiences of people living with
HIV and, in a tradition that continues today, it often featured a story
and photo of an HIV-positive person.
Given that tradition, what better way to celebrate our 10-year
(or arguably our 20-year) anniversary than with a rendezvous with our cover folk? We
checked in with 24 of our cover subjects to learn about life since we first featured
them. Their interviews will surprise and inspire you. So here's to them and to you,
our readers. But most of all, here's to the day when there's nothing left to
cover but the cure.
The interviews:
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In Memoriam
The Positive Side would like to honour the memories of three women who appeared on the cover of the Spring 2003 issue.
Nicole Hicks
Kimberly Johnson
Rhonda Stevens
Françoise Grothé , whose interview appears here, passed away during the preparation of this article.
This issue of the magazine is dedicated to these four women.
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Source: This information was provided
by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE).
For more information, contact CATIE at 1-800-263-1638.
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