Meet the activist who wants people living with HIV to know they’re still sexy

Andrew Spieldenner's favorite superhero growing up wasn't Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman — it was Color Kid.

Color Kid, a friend of Superboy and Legion of Superheroes member, has the ability to change the color of anything. If you think that doesn't sound like much, think of it this way: he can change the color of light to black, change your red blood cells to white, and, if you want to take away Superman's powers, change the sun from yellow to red.

Other than being a super "gay idea," Spieldenner says he was always drawn to Color Kid and his friends because "the powers, no matter how silly they seem, are important." It's a belief that's stuck with him well into adulthood, and one he incorporates as executive director of MPACT Global, an international nonprofit dedicated to the sexual health and human rights of men who have sex with men.

"I'm a firm believer that you try everything to see what you're good at and what you like, then you pursue your passions," Spieldenner tells The Advocate. "Like many people, I didn't know what my passions were for a long time. Getting diagnosed with HIV in my 20s kind of helped clarify some things around how long my life would be. Because at the time, it was the 90s, and when I was told I had HIV, they were like, you've got five years left to live, ten if you're lucky."

Related: HIV Activist Andrew Spieldenner on His New Job and the Year Ahead

Before he was one of the only openly HIV-positive executive directors of a global organization, Spieldenner experienced what many young gay men went through while coming of age during the AIDS Crisis. As he was getting his master's at the University of California, Los Angeles, his "severe drug problem" and thousands of dollars in medical bills compounded, forcing him to drop out.

Spieldenner then moved to Florida, where he worked in the prison system teaching General Educational Development (GED) courses. He obtained a PhD in communication and culture from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and eventually was hired as a professor at California State University. It was around the same time that he became involved in HIV activism through UNAIDS.

Education has always been a passion of Spieldenner's, which he credits to the teachers in his life. From Barbara Christian during his time at UC Berkeley to the high school teacher who gave him a copy of Audre Lorde's Sister Outsider, Spieldenner experienced how education can be a tool to shape young minds — and how it can be a weapon wielded against them. One such example he cites is the $2,000 bill he received from the UCLA student health center after his diagnosis, despite being on the school's insurance.

"I really saw the power of education and helping people kind of find their voice as well as find a place in society. I also saw the damage education can do as an institution," Spieldenner says. "As a professor, I try to make the space that I teach in as welcoming as possible."

Spieldenner joined MPACT in March 2021, during a time when the organization was experiencing "massive funding cuts." He was forced to hit the ground running by diversifying its sources of financial support, while also guiding the group through its separation from a former parent organization.

As "a lot of LGBT organizations draw back and try to be invisible," MPACT is doing the opposite. Under Spieldenner, and with true independence, the organization centers an "extremely sex-positive, community-friendly, community-centered voice and agenda."

"The reason why it's important for queer people living with HIV to stay sexual is because all the messages we get after we get diagnosed are that we don't deserve sex, that we should stop having sex, and that we're not sexy anymore. And all of that is marked by our HIV," Spieldenner says. "I think it's important for those of us living with HIV to remember that we're sexy, that we deserve physical intimacy, that we deserve physical connection just like anybody else, and that are that we should be celebrated."

To do just that, MPACT hosted the third annual Besoton Sidoso Internacional in November, during which a group of HIV-positive men met at the border between the United States and Mexico to kiss, creating a powerful display of defiance in the face of discrimination. The demonstration sought to uplift people living with HIV and take away the stigma that surrounds dating and sex, while also showing solidarity with queer migrants as they face persecution from the Trump administration.

Related: HIV-positive men stage 'Kiss-In' protest at U.S.-Mexico border (in photos)

Migrants living in high-income countries are disproportionately affected by HIV infection, according to a 2018 report from the National Institute of Health. A large portion contract HIV after migration, and they frequently have characteristics associated with poor clinical outcomes. Queer migrants are already at a heightened risk under Trump's policies, and those living with HIV in U.S. detention centers are regularly subjected to violence, stigma, and denied access to lifesaving medications.

As somebody living with HIV, Spieldenner says that he's "perhaps more sensitive to how connected freedom of movement and health care is," since he's first-hand experienced that "where you live has a direct impact on your healthcare, your quality of life, and how much agency you feel in your life." While MPACT celebrates its 20th anniversary, he promises the group will continue fighting for the well-being of the most vulnerable.

"Something that's always been a kind of North Star, is that I do believe in our community," Spieldenner says. "I believe in our learning, I believe in our power, and I believe in our experiences informing the work that we do and the ways that we envision the world."