Markus Lust in Vice:
An Austrian gay mag called Vangardist made headlines around the world this week for using the blood of three HIV-positive people to print its new issue. The sterilized blood carrying the virus was used on 3,000 of 18,000 copies, and was intended to address the stigmatization many people living with HIV deal with on a daily basis. The issue is of course completely safe to handle, and researchers from Harvard and Austria's Innsbruck University provided guidance to the magazine throughout the process. The issue deals with the history behind the stigmatization of HIV patients, the state of the disease today, and contains interviews with each of the donors. Proceeds from the issue's sales will be donated to HIV and AIDS charities. I got in touch with Vangardist's publisher, Julian Wiehl, to talk about the campaign, Conchita Wurst, and his HIV Heroes initiative.
VICE: What did you hope to achieve with the current issue of Vangardist? Julian Wiehl: We wanted to raise awareness for HIV—but also point out that people who carry the virus are still extremely stigmatized in our society. The problem is not that HIV never hit the headlines. The problem is that HIV doesn't make headlines any longer. Everybody seems to think we've heard enough about it. But the reaction to our print magazine shows that there's obviously still lots of work to do. Unfortunately, reporting on the topic in a matter-of-fact way is not enough
More here.
