The Pride Lounge hosted a Queer on Prep event on Oct. 29 at the LAC to discuss preventative measures against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its common misconceptions.
Students and staff watched an adult novela called “El Chakal de Mi Corazon” which focused on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a prescription medicine that helps reduce your chances of getting HIV.
Long Beach City College LGBTQ+ Student Liaison and Health Clinic Mark Casas, who is responsible for overseeing the functions of the district’s mental health services and providing resources for students, addressed the author’s decision to spread awareness on HIV via film.
“I think it’s being told via film to really reduce that stigma, to really have that conversation going because when your going into a clinic you might have that stigma still of like wanting to talk to something that you might not have talked about so watching a film, getting comfortable and seeing another story that could relate to your story it brings that comfortability and reduces that stigma,” said Casas.
Program Coordinator Joaquin Gutierrez sets up a screening of “El Chakal de Mi Corazon” for students during the Queer on Prep event on Oct. 29. The film focused on portraying different types of relationships and highlighted preventative measures against HIV. (Abigail Soto Godinez)
Throughout the event, Program Coordinator Joaquin Gutierrez encouraged students to discuss the impact of shaming in different types of relationships.
“We don’t think about how shame and stigma impact little things,” said Gutierrez.
Student Affairs Program Coordinator Chris Garcia addressed a common misconception about HIV.
“It’s really important because a lot of people think HIV is only impacting men who have sex with men and the reality of it is that it’s impacting everybody and so many of the new cases are women so we wanna make sure women are also hearing these conversations and learning that they can also be protected,” said Garcia.
Garcia discussed the incorporation of LGBTQ+ and Latino representation in the film.
“I think this film did a really good job about incorporating both Latino culture and LGBTQ culture, we got to see a lot of representation from Latino parents, Latino siblings, Latino relationships and from the LGBTQ side we got to see more representation from different types of relationships open, closed and we got to see more representation around bisexuality,” said Garcia.
After the film ended, Gutierrez provided students with an activity of covering pill cases with gems and beads.
Students were encouraged to keep their medication safe and to continue discussing details that felt most important to them.
Long Beach City College Early Childhood Education major Vanessa Pelayo expressed appreciation for the film’s incorporation of different LGBTQ+ identities.
“My favorite part is how they showed bisexuality, bi and pansexuality and also being poly in a pretty good light as a bisexual person myself I’ve been discriminated against because of my bisexuality because they would say things to me about ‘oh all bisexuals are cheaters’ or like ‘oh why don’t you just pick a gender’ so seeing a film actually put bisexuality in a positive light,” said Pelayo.
Casas provides students with a key takeaway from the film.
“To get from the film, is to share if your comfortable, reach out for help, be connected stay healthy and seek out resources to better your health like the prep and also ask more questions and also try to reduce the stigma and hurt around in the community if there’s going on and just for everybody to be healthy,” said Casas.
The Pride Lounge is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Liberal Arts Campus in building B-200.
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