Supporting young sexual minorities a key to HIV prevention

Submitted by alege about 2 years ago

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Photo by Jo Jakeman “Yes mother, it’s true, I am gay.” These were the words that forever changed the life of 65-year-old Rosa Feijoo, over fifteen years ago.

For Rosa, then 50, life was going according to plan and she was focused on raising her three children to the best of her ability. She had dreams of watching them grow into men and women who would fit the traditional Mexican cultural and social stereotypes.

But in 1993 all that changed when she learnt her eldest son was gay.

“It came as a rumour through some family members,” she recalled. “I did not want to believe it, so I right away confronted him.” Eventually, her son admitted it was true before starting to cry. It was too much for Rosa to take.

“I felt weak, started to shake and I walked away,” she said, “but I quickly regained my composure and confronted him. I told him that there was no way he could be gay and still be my son.”

“I blamed all his poor health on the fact that he was gay and encouraged him to visit a psychiatrist to cure his illness. I was confused and felt guilty for poorly raising him. The entire family rejected him and he left home.”

Two months later Rosa’s son passed away due to an AIDS-related illness. Rosa looks back at her son’s death with a�strong sense�of guilt. “I regret that I did not have the courage to accept, support and love him the way he was,” she said.

This sense of remorse coupled with the strong homophobic culture in Mexico drove Rosa and three friends to start up an organization called Foundation Towards a Sense of Life in 2005. She has also written a book, “AIDS, A Mother’s Story” to support mother with LGBT children.

“I felt obliged to do something for the hundreds of children who are chased from home on to the streets because of their sexual orientation where they become more vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infection,” said Rosa.

“At school the lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) children are bullied and forced to drop out of school and join gangs.” For Rosa, children under such extreme pressure are in no position to accept HIV and AIDS prevention messages or seek HIV services.

Through her organization and by speaking out publicly, Rosa is trying to reach out to families and parents and spread information about the risk of HIVthrough parent talks and "safe zones” in schools.

The initiative has helped hundreds of families with LGBT children support them and encourage them to mitigate the risks of HIV infection. With support from the Mexican government, the organization has managed to develop a video “Homophobia, Mothers and Parent Talk”.

Rose said she would like the participants at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City to “actively support, engage and involve diverse families with LGBT children in HIV prevention, services and AIDS-related care.”