Take Charge and Protect Yourself

By taking charge and protecting yourself you show how much you love Y.O.U.  Many people in our lives will say they love you and care about you but that love and care can be backed up with action.  If a boyfriend says he loves you but continually asks you do something your not comfortable with is that love?  No one will try to make you do anything you don’t want to do and no one will continually try to break down that NO and turn it into a YES.  You can say you love yourself and do things that show that you don’t for instance, participating in unprotected sex.  Do you honestly think you love yourself while putting your well-being at risk?

You can take charge and protect yourself by:

• Getting tested for HIV and make sure any partner or partners you have do the same.  Did you know that one in five Americans is living with HIV and they do not know it.
• If you choose to have sex USE protection, please practice safe sex.
• Do not be afraid to ask questions.  Talk your doctor or a counselor about any questions you may have education is the difference between knowing and not knowing.  Take the information to friends and talk to them about how they can protect themselves.

If you want to know where you can get tested go to hivtest.org.  REMEMBER:  TAKE CHARGE AND PROTECT YOURSELF LOVE YOU ENOUGH TO DO IT.