Bull’s Eye: AHF’s “No Judgemental Bullsh*t” HIV Testing Campaign Hits the Mark

By: AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Los Angeles, CA - November 12, 2009

Never look a bull in the eye. That’s lifesaving advice if you are toreador in the ring at Seville. But if you are a driver in Los Angeles, looking into a bull’s eye just might be the thing that saves your life—or the life of someone you love.

That’s what we at AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) are hoping anyway. Our newest billboard campaign to promote HIV testing--now on display throughout Los Angeles—features a life-sized bull, complete with tail and horns, along with the slogan “No Judgemental Bullsh*t” and the website www.freeHIVtest.net. The quote is taken from LA Weekly’s recent “Best of L.A.” issue in which AHF’s “Out of the Closet” Thrift Stores were named “Best Second-Hand Store to get free HIV Testing”:

“The world’s most fa-a-a-bulous thrift store, the Out of the Closet chain has 13 Southern California locations, six of which provide free HIV-testing and counseling on a walk-in basis (Hollywood, West Hollywood, Venice, Atwater Village, Echo Park and Long Beach)… They salvage wardrobes, they save lives, and you won’t get no judgemental bullshit either.”

“No judgemental bullsh*t.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. After all, the goal of having free HIV testing at “Out of the Closet” stores is to take the stigma out of the experience, to make testing accessible and easy, and to remove what, for some, remains a significant obstacle to getting tested: the fear that someone is going to probe into their personal habits and judge them for it.

Our HIV testing counselors are friendly and chill. They are there to facilitate you knowing your HIV status so that you can protect your health and the health of your partners. Sure – they might give you the 411 on what behaviors could make you safer. But, no one’s gonna make you feel like a steaming pile for engaging in the activities that might have led you to be concerned about your status to begin with.

So, the next time you are driving around Los Angeles, go ahead and look that bull in the eye—and then take it by the horns and get tested.

To find an “Out of the Closet” HIV testing site near you, visit www.freehivtest.net.

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