Diversity Rules Magazine

4 Diversity Rules Magazine April 2018 Damon L. Jacobs is a New York-based Li- censed Marriage and Family erapist and HIV prevention spe- cialist who focuses his work on health, love, and pleasure. rough his clinical work, Da- mon has spent two de- cades helping couples and individuals create joy- ful and sustainable relationships. He is also the author of the books RATIONAL RELATING and ABSOLUTELY SHOULD-LESS. He is best known for championing the use of pre- exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) through his work on social media, news print, broad- cast appearances, including e New York Times, USA Today, MSNBC, NPR, Vice News, and more. He is featured as one of 35 "Leading HIV Activists" by e Ad- vocate Magazine, one of the Top 10 "In- fluential Voices in HIV/AIDS for 2016" by Healthline Magazine, part of the "HIV Heroes" series through Metrosource Maga- zine, and one of the Ten "Most Captivating Voices of 2014" by HIV Equal. He was hon- ored to receive a Commissioner Special Recog- nition Award for his work through the New York State Department of Health in 2016 JRK: Before we get into the interview, can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background, where you are from and all that good introductory stuff? DJ: Sure! I am a 46-year-old Licensed Marriage and Family erapist in the states of New York and Cali- fornia. I grew up in Culver City (next to Los Angeles), and moved to the Bay Area and soon as I was legally old enough to get the hell out of SoCal. I am fortunate to have a loving family there, whom I visit often, but always feel out-of-sorts and uneasy in the Los Angeles region. e Santa Cruz/San Francisco area always felt more like a natural fit, more a place I could relax and be at home. I moved to New York City in 2005 as a result of the events of 9/11/01. I knew that the city would be traumatized for years and I wanted to play some role in being part of the healing process. Being a therapist is honestly the only work I have ever wanted to do, as far back as kindergarten. I've writ- ten two books about my work and perspectives on life, called, "Absolutely Should-less," and "Rational Relat- ing." JRK: You are very active in educating folks about PrEP through your Fa- cebook group, "PrEP Facts: Re- thinking HIV Prevention and Sex." How and why did you become such an advocate for PrEP? Can you tell us about the purpose of the group and what you perceive its objec- tives to be? DJ: Most of my life has been dominated by the trauma of AIDS. I was 14-years-old the summer that Rock Hudson was shameless exploited by the media when he was sick with AIDS. I knew long before then that I wasn't a normal "boy," and I knew that sometimes I thought about touching other boys. But when Rock Hudson ap- peared on my screen a voice said, "See you can't be gay because that will happen to you." By the late 1980s we received AIDS Prevention edu- cation (we did not use the term "HIV" back then) in public schools. It was basically a film with Whoopi Goldberg explaining that condoms could prevent AIDS if they were used for every sexual encounter. is was around the same time "Dangerous Laisons" was playing in theaters, in which Glenn Close says to Michelle Pfeiffer, "I'm saying, you stupid little girl, that provided you take a few elementary precautions you can do it or not as often as you like, with as many different men as you like, in as many different ways as you like." I took these messages to heart, and began exploring the wonderful world of bottoming in 1989, first in West Hollywood, then up in San Francisco. ese were some of the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic, and everywhere you looked there were young frail men walking around with canes and oxygen tanks. AIDS was killing our brothers and sisters left and right. The Facts Of PrEP Reclaiming Our Bodies And Our Sexual Identities By Jim Koury, Editor/Publisher

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