095: Charles Sanchez Is An AIDS Activist Who is Not Sad, Sick, or Dying

Sep 30, 2020

Charles Sanchez is a Mexican-American, gay, HIV+ writer, performer, director and advocate living in New York City. He is one of the co-founders of Skipping Boyz Productions, and conceived, writes and stars in the award-winning musical comedy web series Merce. In 2003, he was diagnosed with AIDS and began his journey to becoming an activist and advocate. He has attended the national AIDSWatch conference in Washington D.C. four times and has been featured in public service videos for the CDC’s “Start Talking. Stop HIV.” campaign, as well as for Remedy Health Media and EverydayHealth.com. He was included in Healthline.com's list of HIV Honors: The Most Influential Voices of 2017, and was honored in POZ Magazine's 2018 POZ 100, celebrating people over 50 making a difference in the fight against HIV and the stigma surrounding it. Sanchez has been a Contributing Editor for TheBody.com since 2017, and has had essays published on PositivelyAware.com, Them.us and HuffPost Queer Voices. In the spring of 2020, he began hosting a live interview show on Instagram for TheBody, called “At Home With”, featuring prominent members of the HIV and LGBTQ+ community.

Tune in as Charles shares:

• how he was first diagnosed with AIDS in 2003, and almost died
• that he’s had only positive experiences with his doctors since being diagnosed
• how he balances holistic and medical treatments for HIV
• that he took advantage of mental health care support early on, and continued to do so
• a discussion of the stigmas associated with an HIV diagnosis
• why he believes in universal healthcare
• the importance of community when living with chronic illness and disability
• how dance nourishes him
• the importance of perspective and openness to new information