My name is Alberto Perez Bermudez, and I found out I was HIV positive when I was 18 years old. I never used a condom, and I didn’t know anything about HIV. I was having sex with a lot of ladies. I thought it was a gay disease until it happened to me.

What three adjectives best describe you?

Honest, sincere, nice.

What is your greatest achievement?

What I have done and will continue to do for my HIV-positive community until there is a cure.

What keeps you up at night?

Nothing. I sleep like a baby and thank God.

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be?

The side effects and the opportunistic infections.

What person in the HIV/AIDS community do you most admire?

Me.

What drives you to do what you do?

Myself, my god and my family.

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what would you grab on the way out?

My money and my ID.

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?

A big dog, like a boxer.