Alex Johnston was having a back problem and needed the services of a physiotherapist. When he disclosed his HIV status on a form he was required to fill in listing existing conditions, he was told they were uncomfortable doing what his doctor had prescribed, due to him being HIV-positive - so they wouldn’t help him. He filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and an agreement was reached.
While the terms of the agreement remain confidential, they included a donation of $3,000 by the large Ottawa health service provider to an AIDS Service Organization of Alex’s choice. It was his wish that the recipient be the CPPN (Canadian Positive People Network). For tax purposes the contribution was funneled through the AIDS Committee of Ottawa.
“Part of the settlement was that the service provider was required to write a letter of apology to me, that they provide all their staff with sensitivity training regarding dealing with people living with HIV” said Alex, talking to PositiveLite.com. “They are no longer allowed to ask if you have HIV. It’s not relevant. They should be practicing universal precautions.” and it is up to a medical doctor knowledgeable about HIV to determine if a treatment is contraindicated. (At one point in the negotiation they claimed it was perceived to be contraindicated after denying that they had refused service for no reason other than Alex being positive.)
“I filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission” Alex went on, “but they wanted mediation before it went to court. I had great help from Khalid Janmohamed of the HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic of Ontario (HALCO) and staff at the AIDS Committee of Ottawa. We reached a settlement with the service provider and I said I wanted the money to go to an AIDS Service Organization”.
He chose CPPN as the ultimate recipient because he figured it would make the most impact. “I wanted to encourage them. I think we need to have organizations for and by people living with HIV and I had been following along with what they had been doing. I really believe in people standing in solidarity with each other. This gives CPPN a little bit of freedom and also encourages them, giving them a boost, knowing that people in the community are paying attention.”
“I could have taken the money for myself and, believe me, I could have used it – I am on ODSP and haven’t worked a full time permanent job for the last five years due to my back. I have faced a tremendous amount of discrimination based on HIV and another disability I have and it infuriates me. The only way I coped with my anger was to remind myself that they are not just discriminating against me, they are discriminating against everyone else who has HIV. . Thus I don’t feel so diminished as a human. I get strength from understanding that I am not alone, I am in the same boat as others and it’s about all of us.”
Adds Alex “So when I got this reward, I wasn’t fighting for myself, I was fighting for all of us.”
Alex, now 52, says he has had HIV probably since he was a teenager. “My partner was diagnosed when I was 23 and I was diagnosed when I was 27. But I had all sorts of infections before that. The only reason I didn’t get tested was because I was afraid of discrimination – and there were no treatments – and I could still work. It was only when I became too sick for work which occurred just before my partner died in 1992 that I took sick. I grieved for a year before I started running my own business, running a computer bulletin board I transformed into an internet service provider.” He also became involved with the AIDS Committee of Ottawa where he served on its board of directors for five years.
His viral load is undetectable now. “When you are undetectable after you have been told for so many years that you are going to die it gives you a psychological break and the confidence to stand your ground. When you are on death’s door and a few years later you are doing heavy labour (Alex went back to work as a bricklayer for a few years),"you realize anything is possible”.
I asked Alex how he would describe himself. “A single gay man looking for a boyfriend” he said, a chuckle in his voice. ”Because I’m interested in a relationship, disclosure tales on a different thing for me. To me if I want a relationship, how can I not tell them? How can I hide who I am?”
Alex wanted me to note a quote from his old BBS days. “Nothing is so bad that it cannot be made worse by being alone.” Alex is a fixer though, it’s clear. I’m left with a feeling he will fix that too.