Before It Melts *Explore*

Mount Sopris through snow-laden trees. Carbondale, CO, USA

By Melinda Hipple

When was the last time YOU got tested?

Today is National Transgender HIV Testing Day (NTHTD) - it's an annual observance through the CDC and other HIV-focused health organizations to spark conversations about the need for HIV testing and prevention. Like many marginalized populations, HIV disproportionally affects transgender individuals compared to the general population and has done so since the original 1980s AIDS epidemic.

It's 2024. HIV is completely treatable and preventable - as long as you have the knowledge and the tools.

Every single person should get tested for HIV at least once in their lives, even if they're not sexually active. In Illinois, once you turn 12 years old, you can get tested for HIV and prevention tools like PrEP and PEP entirely on your own without parental permission/consent.

Sexually active individuals should be tested for HIV at least once per year, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. HIV can and does affect everyone, so make it a part of your annual wellness routine and doctor's visit. There's a variety of ways to get tested for HIV - whether it's through an at-home test, at the doctor's office, or with an organization like us at Rainbow Cafe LGBTQ Center!

High-risk people, like individuals who frequently have unprotected sex or share injectable drugs/equipment, should get tested for HIV more often. The CDC recommends high-risk populations get tested every 3 to 6 months, depending on need. On the other hand, the CDC does not recommend anyone get tested more than 4 times a year unless...

You should get tested each and every time there's an emergency like you had unprotected sex, the condom broke, or you had to share drug equipment.

If you test negative, you have a couple of options to prevent getting HIV in the future. If you're someone who comes into contact with HIV somewhat regularly, like if you have engage in unprotected sex, have a partner living with HIV, or normally share injection drug equipment, you should consider PrEP - a daily pill that prevents HIV long-term. Alternatively, if you're someone who doesn't into contact with HIV very often and there's an emergency like a condom breaking, there's PEP, which prevents HIV transmission after exposure if taken quickly enough.

If you test positive, you'll be prescribed the necessary medications to ensure you will live a long, healthy life just like any of your other peers. It might seem scary since there still isn't a permanent cure for HIV, but living with HIV really means just taking your daily meds, doing some routine bloodwork with your doctor, and making sure to tell your future/current partners.

E Cindy Street, Carbondale, Illinois.

Population: 25,083

The submitter commented, “DIRTY DALE SWEEP”

N Poplar St, Carbondale, Illinois.

The total eclipse in Carbondale, Illinois,

From the campus of Southern Illinois University,

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

I wish cable news websites would post pictures on their websites because I have some really cool transit new to share straight from Carbondale Illinois, but none of the local stations would given me their images, sadly

Markers from the Born Again Labor Museum.

A wild Magnemite appeared!

Did you know that October 22nd is National Anti-Police Brutality Day?

Back in August of this year, The Independent reported that over 700 people had already been murdered from police brutality and violence, and that 2022 was well on track to become the most deadly year thus far. Despite the gains made during the Black Lives Matter surge in 2020, people of color - especially Black and Brown people, as well as other marginalized groups like queer and trans people - have been routinely and systematically killed by an increasingly fascist police system.

Police brutality and white supremacy are why mutual aid and community are invaluable. dontcallthepolice.com has a list of national resources to consider before calling law enforcement, whether it's for mental health like using the Trevor Project, FORGE, TransLifeline, Blackline, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline; abuse with national resources like Love Is Respect, the National Domestic and Sexual Abuse hotlines, Boys and Girls Town, SAGE; crime-related with organizations like the Victim Connect Resource Center or National Center for Victims of Crime; etc. Additionally, we recommend local Southern Illinois mutual aid organizations and partners like The Center for Empowerment and Justice, The Community Action Place, Inc., Jackson County Health Department - Illinois, Choices: Center for Reproductive Health, Carbondale Warming Center, The Night's Shield, Survivor Empowerment Center, SIU Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development, and others BEFORE pursuing police intervention. And of course, consider donating and supporting local Black organizations - Black Lives Matter didn't stop after 2020 or after the conviction of Derek Chauvin.

To find out more about National Anti-Police Brutality Day, or National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, which has been happening every year since 1996, check out https://www.october22.org/

Captured an ok picture of the solar eclipse on Monday. To say it was amazing and magical is an understatement.

303 W Sycamore St, Carbondale, Illinois.

IC's "Campus" stops in Duquoin, Illinois in October 1967

📍Carbondale, Colorado, USA 📽️Amazing Places Around the World 📸Photo by @medskey #carbondale #colorado #usa #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photooftheday #picoftheday #landscapephotography #mountains #beautiful #follow #nature #wanderlust #doyoutravel #goexplore #travelmore #lovetotravel #wonderfulplaces #travelgirl #mountains #mountain (at Carbondale, Colorado) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmyw9rJqpYC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=