Dating

“I’ve dated lots of guys but I haven’t told any of them I am HIV positive. I figure they don’t need to know unless I am actually having sex with them—which I’m not!”

If you are going to have sex, you need to always protect yourself and your partner by having safe sex with a condom. But you need to tell your partner you have HIV because you could give it to them. It can be hard to talk to someone you really like about your HIV. You are not alone. You can talk with a counselor or someone from an AIDS organization in your area to make it easier. [Check out Getting Help.]

You may want to think about telling past sexual partners so they can get tested, (especially if you had unprotected sex.) In some provinces, you may be able to get help from a public health worker if you want to tell your past or current sexual partners without telling them your name. [Check out the Safer Sex and Getting Help sections for more information.]