Regan Hofmann on Sex and Secrets at TEDxAmRing (Full Transcript)

Regan Hofmann, the editor-in-chief of POZ magazine, discusses Sex and Secrets at TEDxAmRing. Below is the full transcript.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here: Sex and secrets by Regan Hofmann at TEDxAmRing

TRANSCRIPT:

Seventeen years ago, I went to Florida, to swim with the dolphins, with my mum and my little sister. And we were standing on the dark, watching the dolphins do their things, and I looked down, and I noticed this bump on my leg where it met my body. And I showed it to my sister and my mum and didn’t think it was anything too serious, and I went home, and I showed it to my doctor. And he gave me some regular blood test things, and said “Come back in a week and we will see what this is and get it cured up.”

I got a phone call a couple days later and he said, “Your blood work is inconclusive and shows something. We want you to come back in.”

So I sat in an exam room for a while, and he finally brought me into his private quarters which I thought a bit strange. But they said we’re just overstretched with people today, and we need you to be in his room. And then, the door bang opened, and five people in lab clothes walked in.

The first thing I thought was, “Oh my God, this is so serious that my doctor brought in back up”. And the second thing I thought was: “What, in God’s name, did the dolphins give me? I mean, you can see having kissing them, but I was to get some weird tropical disease from the dolphins.

And he said, “I don’t really know how to say this. I’m just going to tell you that you’re living with HIV”. And my mind just exploded and I’ve been so careful. I really thought I had known what I was doing with my body over the years. I’ve been careful, but obviously not careful enough. I’ve had unprotected sex and contracted HIV.