Speakers tried to dispel stereotypes about HIV at the brown bag lunch discussion Wednesday afternoon.

“People still think AIDS is a gay man’s disease,” said Janelle Durlin, coordinator of Living with HIV, a program of Mid-Iowa Community Action.

In actuality, it has been shown the highest demographic infected with the disease is heterosexual women, said Tim Clark, self-proclaimed AIDS activist, volunteer and client.

“This is the reality,” he said. “It is here. It does exist.”

Kelly Weikum spoke about his experience with the HIV disease. He said before he realized he had contracted the disease, he never would have sat in the same room as another gay man.

“I was brought up to be a prejudiced, bigoted person,” he said.

For Weikum, there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity.

He said ignorance is when people simply don’t know the information and stupidity is when people hear the facts and keep their stereotypes.

“Ignorance is easier to handle than stupidity,” he said.

Living with HIV has given Weikum a new perspective on the disease and the stereotypes associated with it.

He said the only good thing he has gained from HIV is the compassion he has developed as a result of his understanding.

“Otherwise, [living with HIV] really sucks,” he said.

Lisa Licastro, an HIV patient from Mount Pleasant, said she spends $1,500 every month on medication alone. One of the medications she took created nerve damage in her feet; she can no longer walk barefoot on grass or sand.

Weikum told his son of his disease when he was only 10 years old.

He said it was hard to see his son going through life knowing his dad could die any day. All throughout high school, Weikum said his son wouldn’t talk about his father or the HIV that affects their daily lives.

When his son turned 18, he went to get a tattoo. Much to the surprise of Weikum, the tattoo was a red ribbon with the words “in honor of my father” inscribed around it.

Clark said family support is something on which people with HIV and AIDS depend.

“If you don’t [take responsibility] for yourself,” Licastro said, “do it for your family.”