Growing up, Rhulani Chauke knew he was different, but could not put his finger on it
As a young boy from Malamulele Village in Limpopo, Chauke, 21, admired his male teachers and he preferred to play with girls and dolls.
"I did not understand what was going on. My parents also came to understand that I was different from other boys. When I was 15, through reading, I got to understand what was going on with me. I realised that I was gay," Chauke confides.
He says in 2004 everything became clear when he read about gays and lesbians in magazines and when he saw a gay scene on television.
"I realised I may be that kind of a person," he beams.
"One day I decided to tell my community. And because I spent most of my time at school, I decided it would be good to start with my schoolmates," Chauke says.
During a free period, he broke the news to his classmates.
"I said, guys I am gay and I am proud of it and I love guys and I want to embrace who I am," Chauke says.
He says his classmates at Shikundu High School were shocked.
"Some of them asked me, why, how can you be gay, are you cursed? They said this is a thing for white people and people in urban areas. They made jokes about me. Gay became my name," he says.
Chauke says surprisingly, there were those who were supportive.
"My English teacher, a very religious man, was very supportive. He encouraged the class to understand that gay happens and explained that it is a part of life," Chauke says.
He says in Limpopo people don't know much about gays, and in rural areas they defined "gay" as a guy who sleeps with other guys, which confused them.
"I was called sometimes to explain this gay thing to people on the street. I was willing to give as much information as I knew about. Sometimes they would call me to talk to some parents. I did this until I could come to Johannesburg, which is the capital of gays and everybody is free to be who they are, and now I am happy living my life," he says.
He had his first gay sexual experience with a friend in Grade 12 when he was 17.
"In early July 2008 I found that I had anal warts. I went to the public clinic in Olifantsfontein. I was laughed at. Then I went to another clinic and they checked me for HIV. Unfortunately the result came back positive. I accepted it. I did not practice safe sex sometimes," he says.
He says there are people who still don't believe that condoms can protect you.
"I blame myself for what happened because I went looking for it and it is with me now. HIV is a friend. It shows me how wonderful life is," Chauke says.
"I believe people will die. They don't just go like that, something has to come up and HIV is one of those diseases.
"My body has to go through all the stages of life, all the experiences. Yes, I am happy to have this. I can call this my man, the man I sleep with every night," Chauke says.
- Local research has indicated that HIV prevalence within black, gay, male communities in Gauteng's townships is reportedly four times higher than that of the general population. This equates to almost 48 percent or almost one in two black gay men living with HIV in our townships.
In Africa - a region not commonly associated with male-male HIV-transmission - there's evidence that transmission is a significant problem.
Although statistics like these give an idea of the impact that Aids is having on MSM (a broad term, often used in public health interventions to refer to Men who have Sex with other Men, but may or may not identify themselves as homosexuals or gay, data is still extremely scarce in many countries, largely due to the fact that MSM often have no separate social identity and are simply counted as part of the general population. It is also due to the reluctance of governments to acknowledge MSM and to monitor this group.
MSM continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV-Aids.
In low and middle-income countries, MSM are 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population. Despite elevated HIV prevalence rates and heightened vulnerability to factors that drive HIV transmission, MSM have been under-recognised, under-studied, under-funded, and under-served historically in the global response to HIV and Aids.
Sex between men is also a prominent feature in the spread of HIV in less developed regions.
What would a good HIV prevention campaign be, that could have changed the direction of his life?
Chauke says he thinks there needs to be more aggressive HIV campaigns that target gays and MSM, including door-to-door campaigns.
"Condoms must be an everyday thing. People need to stress that HIV is here. Having people who are HIV-positive telling people how they feel. How they live. Encourage young people who are young - I am 21, I got it when I was 18 - and tell them that, 'I am young and HIV-positive and living with it. I am young and it came into me'," he says.
- This article was made possible through funding from the Open Society Foundation of South Africa's Media Fellowship Programme.
Gay, HIV+ and not sad
Growing up, Rhulani Chauke knew he was different, but could not put his finger on it
As a young boy from Malamulele Village in Limpopo, Chauke, 21, admired his male teachers and he preferred to play with girls and dolls.
"I did not understand what was going on. My parents also came to understand that I was different from other boys. When I was 15, through reading, I got to understand what was going on with me. I realised that I was gay," Chauke confides.
He says in 2004 everything became clear when he read about gays and lesbians in magazines and when he saw a gay scene on television.
"I realised I may be that kind of a person," he beams.
"One day I decided to tell my community. And because I spent most of my time at school, I decided it would be good to start with my schoolmates," Chauke says.
During a free period, he broke the news to his classmates.
"I said, guys I am gay and I am proud of it and I love guys and I want to embrace who I am," Chauke says.
He says his classmates at Shikundu High School were shocked.
"Some of them asked me, why, how can you be gay, are you cursed? They said this is a thing for white people and people in urban areas. They made jokes about me. Gay became my name," he says.
Chauke says surprisingly, there were those who were supportive.
"My English teacher, a very religious man, was very supportive. He encouraged the class to understand that gay happens and explained that it is a part of life," Chauke says.
He says in Limpopo people don't know much about gays, and in rural areas they defined "gay" as a guy who sleeps with other guys, which confused them.
"I was called sometimes to explain this gay thing to people on the street. I was willing to give as much information as I knew about. Sometimes they would call me to talk to some parents. I did this until I could come to Johannesburg, which is the capital of gays and everybody is free to be who they are, and now I am happy living my life," he says.
He had his first gay sexual experience with a friend in Grade 12 when he was 17.
"In early July 2008 I found that I had anal warts. I went to the public clinic in Olifantsfontein. I was laughed at. Then I went to another clinic and they checked me for HIV. Unfortunately the result came back positive. I accepted it. I did not practice safe sex sometimes," he says.
He says there are people who still don't believe that condoms can protect you.
"I blame myself for what happened because I went looking for it and it is with me now. HIV is a friend. It shows me how wonderful life is," Chauke says.
"I believe people will die. They don't just go like that, something has to come up and HIV is one of those diseases.
"My body has to go through all the stages of life, all the experiences. Yes, I am happy to have this. I can call this my man, the man I sleep with every night," Chauke says.
In Africa - a region not commonly associated with male-male HIV-transmission - there's evidence that transmission is a significant problem.
Although statistics like these give an idea of the impact that Aids is having on MSM (a broad term, often used in public health interventions to refer to Men who have Sex with other Men, but may or may not identify themselves as homosexuals or gay, data is still extremely scarce in many countries, largely due to the fact that MSM often have no separate social identity and are simply counted as part of the general population. It is also due to the reluctance of governments to acknowledge MSM and to monitor this group.
MSM continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV-Aids.
In low and middle-income countries, MSM are 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population. Despite elevated HIV prevalence rates and heightened vulnerability to factors that drive HIV transmission, MSM have been under-recognised, under-studied, under-funded, and under-served historically in the global response to HIV and Aids.
Sex between men is also a prominent feature in the spread of HIV in less developed regions.
What would a good HIV prevention campaign be, that could have changed the direction of his life?
Chauke says he thinks there needs to be more aggressive HIV campaigns that target gays and MSM, including door-to-door campaigns.
"Condoms must be an everyday thing. People need to stress that HIV is here. Having people who are HIV-positive telling people how they feel. How they live. Encourage young people who are young - I am 21, I got it when I was 18 - and tell them that, 'I am young and HIV-positive and living with it. I am young and it came into me'," he says.
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