Viral memories, from HIV to Covid-19 and beyond

COVID-19 has altered how we feel about risk and wellbeing. In some ways, this has happened before: in the 1980s and 90s, HIV caused the AIDS pandemic, which transformed how we related to each other. Today, for many, HIV remains associated with gay men, who have turned to their experiences and memories of it to understand and live through COVID-19. Through interviews with younger and older gay men, I will explore how they remember HIV during COVID-19, and how their memories and experiences of HIV help them navigate COVID-19 risk in the UK. I will work with community organizations to develop better ways of communicating about risk and writing a new chapter in the history of gay communities.