An Interview With HIV Prevention Activist Jose Ramirez

TheBody.com: Podcast Central

"HIV was just something added on the plate that I had to learn how to deal with," says Jose Ramirez. Jose survived sexual abuse, a stint at a sadistic boarding school, visits to war-torn El Salvador and being kicked out of his father's house because he was gay -- all before his 17th birthday. At 17, he found out a much-older boyfriend had passed HIV to him.

For Jose, becoming an advocate for immigrants, rape survivors and LGBT youths was his way of using his own negative experiences to empower his community. "It's stuff that happens to a lot of people, and a lot of people can't talk about it," he says. "Once you hear someone else talk about it, you're like, 'OK, I'm not alone.'" Today, Jose teaches young people how to keep their sex lives safer, healthier and, yes, sexier."