George Montgomery - Shares his story

As a teenager growing up in the US, at 16 years old George enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps through school. Three days after graduating from high school, George heads off to basic training for the US Marines. Then unexpectedly George received phone call from the US Marine Commander . George immediately thought that this meant he was being called on duty. Once inside, he was asked if he knew why he was there. As he did not, he was told that, as he knew, he had had blood work drawn the last time he was on base. He was told that this blood had been randomized into having a HIV test and that, unfortunately, this test had come back positive. Following his diagnosis, George quickly sunk into depression. He turned to alcohol and drugs and stopped attending classes. He stopped getting out of bed, unless it was to head to the bar. Experiencing the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV first-hand meant that George was motivated to become an AIDS activist and peer educator. George is currently actively involved in the Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) as the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersex Chair in the US.