• ROMINA NANAGAS

  PR account manger, Campaigns PR

• "The right to voluntary testing and counseling."

In 2005, Romina's friend had an "AIDS scare." He asked Romina to go with him to get tested.

"I was a bit freaked out–it isn't everyday a friend tells you that they'd like to get tested. I didn't press him for details. I just told him I'd be there to support him and if he wanted me to get tested too, for companionship's sake, I would," Romina shared candidly.

Being at an STD testing center was not at all what Romina thought it would be. "I was really scared. I had this image of us entering and the staff immediately judging us as 'dirty' or promiscuous, but they were very gentle when they talked to us about our lifestyle choices. They gave us brochures and told us to think about it [getting test] first."

Looking back on the experience, Nanagas thinks that everyone should get tested. "I'm in PR–a business of changing perceptions and building images. HIV/AIDS is a cause where right now, a change in perception about something like getting tested may be life-saving. There's a misconceptions that HIV/AIDS is a 'gay disease'. It's these misconceptions that make straight people think they don't need to get tested.

I bared everything for this shoot. Hopefully our shared experience will encourage others to be brave enough to get tested."