To view the original video, please see the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program videos.
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Animation showing the logo of the HRSA Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program coming into view. TITLE SLIDE: Life Beyond HIV Animation showing the title fading from view. |
[Music] |
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Close-up camera view of Steven Vargas. Banner text: Steven Vargas, HIV Advocate, Long-Term Survivor, and Trainer, HRSA’s BLOC (Building Leaders of Color) en Español |
Steven Vargas: The Ryan White Program when it was signed into law in 1990 was…was in place about a year after I started helping people with HIV: my parents. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas with his family. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas as a young man standing in a library. Final photo fades back to the close-up camera view of Vargas. |
Vargas: When I discovered I had HIV, I knew it to be a resource for me when the time came that I would have to start taking HIV medications. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas as a young man in a city. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas as a young man smiling in front of a brick wall. Final photo fades back to the close-up camera view of Vargas. |
Vargas: So, for me, I’ve been living with HIV since 1995, so it’s always been in place the entire time that I’ve had HIV. |
| Close-up camera view of Vargas. | Vargas: It’s taken away some of the stress I would have otherwise felt—like I felt for my parents—like, how are we going to able to afford whatever medications that existed at the time for treatment of HIV. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas standing outside with a group of young Black women. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas standing with a group of people in front of a banner that reads “Latino HIV Task Force”. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas standing in front of the Houston Food Bank. Photo fades back to the close-up camera view of Vargas. |
Vargas: We see it impacting groups that are already being impacted by a whole host of societal things that affect our ability to live long and healthy lives, period, much less feeling like we have a good, fulfilling life beyond just HIV. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas standing with three others, holding a plaque. Photo fades back to the close-up camera view of Vargas GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas speaking into a microphone at a meeting. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas standing with a large, diverse group of people.
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Vargas: I don’t think that stigma and discrimination has really personally impacted me in a way that I feel like it’s gotten in my way. I’ve certainly seen it get in the way of others and have tried my best to see what I can do to help them and mitigate the worst effects of discrimination that’s fueled by stigma. |
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Close-up camera view of Vargas. GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas standing with a friend at a conference. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas standing with friends in front of a rainbow backdrop.
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Vargas: That…we have a lot of things that work against a lot of groups of people for no real rational reason whatsoever. And so, that’s what HIV did for me. It gave me some…it opened my eyes essentially. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas standing with a friend at a conference. Photo fades into the next photo. The next photo shows Vargas standing with friends in front of a rainbow backdrop.
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Vargas: A lot of folks of color, a lot of marginalized folks are the ones that take the brunt of HIV. |
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GRAPHICS SLIDE: Photo of Vargas standing with loved ones in front of a Dia de Los Muertos ofrenda [altar].
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Vargas: We are all people of value, and even if we have no cent whatsoever, we always have that which we can control, which is our word. Doing what we’re say we’re going to do, when we’re going to do it to build the trust in order to build the future that we want. |
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CLOSING SLIDE: For more information on HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, visit www.ryanwhite.hrsa.gov. Logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HRSA Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. |
[Music] |
FADE TO BLACK SCREEN