I just wanted to feel normal, he said.
I thought my life was over, that no love was going to love me or accept me.
I kept asking god: Why me?
I knew my life was never going to be the same.
That people will treat me different.
This was a reality that I never want to face.
Today, Serrano teaches workshops to adolescents and young adults about what it means to contract HIV.
Hes done everything from handing out condoms to convincing others to get tested to mentoring HIV+ teenagers.
He explained that the only education he received was about heterosexual relationships.
This was also true within his family.
I was raised in a heterosexual, Catholic, Latino household.
My mothers sex ed.
was to never bring a girl home pregnant.
In the back of my mind, I knew that wasnt going to happen.
I was looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places.
He explains that this is not just a simple matter of disclosing your health status to your doctor.
It meant that he would have to tell future partners, family members and even his family, too.
