#75 of Our Amazing HIV-Positive People of 2016: Miguel Caballero

Although Miguel Caballero, 31, is new to the world of HIV activism, he has already emerged as one of best new voices in the cause. After receiving a positive diagnosis in January of 2015, he didn’t waste any time becoming involved in advocacy and sharing his own story. Caballero, who was born in Spain but now lives in New York City with his husband, began writing about his experiences in Spanish for the blog, ASS (Amor, Sexo y Serologia).

"I am an HIV advocate because I think we suffered from stigma due to the invisibility of HIV positive people and the lack of public conversation about HIV/AIDS," Caballero says. "I try to change this by sharing my experiences and interviewing other HIV pos people for my blog. I also noticed there is a huge gap between the information circulating in English and that in Spanish, so I decided to write my blog in Spanish to try to close that gap.”

And close the gap he has. His blogs have resonated with native-Spanish speakers and English speakers alike. His work has been translated and circulated on multiple platforms, including PLUS. Now that Caballero has found his platform, he is looking forward to news ways he can make an impact in spreading awareness and fighting HIV stigma.

“My main goal is to help make HIV-positive people more visible and empower them to tell their stories. I also think through the lens of HIV we can see a lot of the fears and desires of contemporary society, that is why the battle against HIV is for me also a battle against sexism, transphobia, homophobia, discrimination against disabled people, the taboos regarding sex, and a questioning of what it means to be healthy/sick today, etc.”

In addition to his new role as a change-agent in the field of HIV advocacy, Caballero is currently pursuing his Ph.D at Princeton in hopes of soon becoming a professor and researcher. 

To read his most recent piece (and to see him without a t-shirt on) visit here.