#spfpp

Stay sex positive!

I want to help everyone. I just don’t have the letters behind my name to do so. I understand trust and safety are huge and people feel better about opening up to those who look like them. I’m very fortunate to have found someone with the letters behind her name that I can now point people to for that added comfort navigating this space. This week, I bring on Sexuality expert, Dr. Lexx Brown-James, LMFT, CSE, Founder of The Institute for Sexuality and Intimacy. We discuss the history of STIs, shame, guilt, over-sexualization of black bodies, healing sexual trauma, and just why a positive STI status hits a black people, especially black women so hard.

People often ask me how I don’t burn out with all the intense emotional exchanges I have with people all over the world. This looks like an ego stroke but it’s identity validation for me since I strongly identify with the cluster of characteristics of a hero. I won’t save everybody but I’ll do my damn best to protect those who choose #somethingpositiveforpositivepeople to explore their healing through. #spfpp (at St. Louis, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRrAnclJx33/?utm_medium=tumblr

Because I have the privilege of being open about my HSV status, I hear stories like this all the time where a person discloses and for whatever reason expects it to be a dealbreaker, but the other person just breezes over it. How much more is there to us besides our ability to mesh genitals “risk” free with no strings attached as if we’re just our bodies? Moving to another country isn’t even a dealbreaker for some people, so what makes you expect your STI status to be? You a whole ass human with creations, tools to use to create, hands to do so, words to communicate thoughts that stem from intention, in a body that has sensations from feelings of stored data from ancestry and past experiences in the nerves, a collection of belief systems and values, and most importantly, a being of divine essence. You’re here to experience the world and be experienced in it not as you body, but IN your body. Don’t let anyone tell you that’s all you are. #somethingpositiveforpositivepeople #spfpp https://www.instagram.com/p/CRW9YCMpTGn/?utm_medium=tumblr

Nature uses devastation to stimulate new growth, slowly but persistently healing her own wounds. -Parker J. Palmer “Hidden Wholeness” #somethingpositivefrompositivepeople #somethingpositiveforpositovepeople #spfpp (at St. Louis, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CROphiFpHOf/?utm_medium=tumblr

Of 1,145 responses from people living with HSV, only 99 found the resources provided by the health care professional who diagnosed them to be useful. I did the math for you, that’s 8.6% of the people who live with herpes and happened to have been linked to this survey for them to participate. I think that number is significantly lower when you consider how difficult it is to even find resources or put yourself out there to join spaces where the resources are accurate at all. I want this number to change. I want to empower providers with resources to share with patients that allow them to choose the form of support they need when they need it. This survey is certainly circulating and it’s an amazing thing to be part of this! Thank y’all! #spfpp #somethingpositiveforpositivepeople I giggled at working under cover from the inside 😂 (at St. Louis, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRan5FB4-1/?utm_medium=tumblr

I advocate for integrating post-diagnosis support resources with prevention efforts so that I have language besides “babies pull your nutrients”. Challenging the medical community with these shared experiences are gonna create the changes we want to see, so when you have the chance to do so, share, speak up, ask questions. The health care system is transactional & treats us like customers in a sales funnel. We as customers have to understand this and advocate for the quality of service we are entitled to. I understand various factors contribute to how one may receive medical results, but if you remember nothing else, remember you are paying for a service that has no warranty. If you bought a new phone you’d inquire on the service plan, what if it’s lost, stolen or broken, so why not prioritize your body the same way you would your communication device? We put our cell phone service sales reps to work more than we do our health care providers. Even they ask for reviews, whereas we don’t review and offer feedback to people servicing our bodies/health???? I’m challenging us all to do better. #somethingpositiveforpositivepeople is challenging us all to do better. Ask questions if nothing else. #spfpp (at St. Louis, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQQ2StOhFkf/?utm_medium=tumblr

This is poor healthcare & stresses the importance of health education advocacy that integrates post-diagnosis support with STD Prevention. What if this were everyone’s experience? A reputable, trusted professional in the thing we expect them to be the expert on tells us, “you do not have to tell anyone you have herpes”. What does the long term and short term impact of that look like? We’re not on the same page and as rare as my posts are about this, it’s far more common practice than it should be. On one hand you have people who think “well I’d want someone to tell me, so I’m gonna be sure to tell them” and on the other you have people looking for a reason, and are actually justified for not disclosing considering this is them adhering to medical advice. There’s a lot of nuance things #somethingpositiveforpositivepeople is challenging in our advocacy and this is one of them. You can support our efforts a number of ways but the best to date is to visit www.spfpp.org and donate directly to #spfpp (at St. Louis, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQPL-1DBhg3/?utm_medium=tumblr