HIV/AIDS LONG-TERM SURVIVOR * YOUTH EDUCATION * ADVOCACY * ACTIVISM * RESOURCES
Houston, Texas - United States
straight men living with hiv/aids from 1980s - Bob bowers
Heterosexual men...
Straight men with HIV are a marginalized group whose experiences often go unaddressed due to stigma and invisibility within both general society and the HIV advocacy community, leading to a lack of support, delayed treatment, and isolation. This silencing stems from perceptions that HIV is a "gay epidemic," contributing to shame, fear of judgment, and a reluctance to disclose their status, which further prevents them from seeking help and participating in vital support networks.
Annoy them... survive
With each passing year, "survive" has become more than just a word; it's my personal battle cry. It's a testament to the strength I've found within myself and a beacon of hope for others facing similar challenges.
Bob Bowers - 43-year long-term HIV/AIDS survivor
🔥 STRAIGHT. HIV POSITIVE. STILL HERE.
Welcome to the scroll they never saw coming.
You’ve probably never seen a page like this.
Not because we don’t exist.
But because nobody’s bothered to show us.
Straight men living with HIV/AIDS have been part of this fight since day one — but we’ve been erased, ignored, or buried under stats and silence.
We’re not in the campaigns.
We’re not in the headlines.
We’re not even in the damn Google images.
But we’ve been here.
Living. Fighting. Dying. Surviving.
And yeah — laughing our asses off through it all.
This page is for the ones who never saw themselves in the story.
For the dudes who thought they were the only ones.
For the fathers, brothers, husbands, rebels, loners, lovers, and warriors who got dealt this virus and kept showing the fuck up anyway.
I’m Bob Bowers. I’ve been living with HIV since 1983.
I’m a long-term survivor.
I’m straight.
And I’m still fine AF — in case you’re wondering.
If you’re a straight man living with HIV/AIDS, this space is yours too.
Pull up a chair.
Crack a joke.
Drop the shame.
And welcome home.
HIV doesn't discriminate!
While HIV/AIDS has historically been disproportionately associated with gay men, it is crucial to recognize that anyone can contract HIV, regardless of their sexual orientation. In fact, heterosexual men comprise a segment of the population living with HIV/AIDS and face unique challenges and experiences that are often overlooked or misunderstood.
Live to tell the tale - The true tale of one tough pirate
my life story is coming
My life didn’t unfold in a straight line.
There is the part where I survived, and the part where I figured out what that survival actually meant.
I didn’t hide my scars, and I didn’t close my heart.
The work continues...
The first volume of The True Tale of One Tough Pirate is coming later in 2026.
Bob Bowers with his wife Nita Costello photographed in downtown Houston, Texas
straight men living with hiv/aids
Bob Bowers is a 43-year long-term survivor
I bent so others could stand.
But now? I’m standin’ tall. Middle finger up.
And I dare you to look away.”
—Bob Bowers, One Tough Pirate
HIV positive. straight. one tough pirate.
Bob Bowers is a prominent long-term survivor and advocate for heterosexual men living with HIV/AIDS. He advocates for the visibility of straight men in the HIV community, challenging the stigma and misconception that the virus only affects the LGBTQ+ community.
Bob bowers is a heterosexual man living with hiv/aids
It’s Not Who You Are, It’s What You Do That Puts You at Risk for HIV
I first started using this phrase in 2004, when I began speaking full-time in schools in Madison, Wisconsin. I can still remember scribbling it out with a pencil one night. Maybe I’d picked it up through the grapevine over the years — activism has a way of spreading ideas — but I know this: from the moment I said it out loud, it became part of my DNA.
As a heterosexual man living with HIV, I needed a way to break the heavy stigma and shatter the myth that HIV was a “gay disease.” This phrase was my answer. Simple, direct, and true:
It’s not who you are. It’s what you do that puts you at risk for HIV.
HIV Doesn't discriminate
“HIV didn’t check my orientation before it hit my bloodstream.”
~Bob Bowers aka One Tough Pirate
bob bowers on substack
Not Braggin', Just Sayin': A Straight Man's Truth About Living with HIV/AIDS
Breaking the silence for the invisible ones: heterosexual men living with HIV.
By Bob Bowers | aka One Tough Pirate
I’m a heterosexual living with HIV.
Not braggin’, just sayin’.
Forty-two-plus years into this journey, and I’m still running into the same tired assumption—that HIV is a “gay disease.” Still watching guys like me get looked at sideways, dismissed, or left out of the conversation altogether.
Let me be clear: I’m not here to compete with anyone’s struggle. But I am here to speak truth. Because when you’re a straight man living with HIV, you experience a specific kind of stigma that’s real, harmful, and almost always unspoken.
We’re made to feel invisible.
Outside the HIV/AIDS community, we’re hit with ignorant questions like, “How’d you get it?”
Inside the HIV/AIDS community, we’re often overlooked in campaigns, support groups, funding priorities, and outreach.
Too straight for the HIV world.
Too HIV-positive for the straight world.
Just stuck in-between, trying to survive.
It’s not who you are—it’s what you do that puts you at risk for HIV. That’s the truth I’ve been shouting for decades, and yet people still look confused when a heterosexual man stands up and says, “I’m positive too.”
This silence is deadly. Literally.
There are straight men out there—newly diagnosed, scared, ashamed—who don’t know where to go. They don’t see themselves in the messaging. They don’t feel welcome in the spaces built for support. And because of that, some of them never get the care they need.
That’s not just stigma—that’s systemic failure.
And I’m calling it out.
Read full piece at: https://onetoughpirate.substack.com/p/not-braggin-just-sayin-a-straight
Straight men living with HIV/AIDS - Bob Bowers 43-year survivor
coming soon!
The True Tale of One Tough Pirate
The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate
The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate
This is the book. This is the life. This is the legacy.
Bob Bowers isn’t just telling a story — he is the story. A tattooed sermon. A truth-teller with scars that speak louder than most people’s platforms.
The True Tale of One Tough Pirate is raw, real, and righteous — one chapter at a time.
The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate
The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate
The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate
I don’t preach from pulpits. My sermons are sidewalk-born…
Ain’t no pulpit here — just truth from the pavement up.
From gas stations to school gym floors, alleyways to altars — Bob’s gospel was born in grit. This ain't your average documentary.
This is The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate.
10 sexiest straight men living with hiv
2014
Bowers outreach educates, raises awareness, fights stigma, and perhaps most importantly, invokes compassion, hope, and affirmative change on our planet.
Infected in 1983 from a one-time decision to share a needle, Bob is one of the first 14,000 Americans infected with HIV. He has lived throughout the whole history of the AIDS pandemic, experienced many ups and downs in his health, and lost so many friends you wonder how his heart can bear it.
Bob Bowers long-term HIV/AIDS survivor.
Bob bowers aka one tough pirate music playlist
Music is life!
Music has always been more than background noise in my life—it was the anchor, the sermon, the war drum, and sometimes, the only damn reason I kept going. Whether I was surviving hospitals, addiction, the ‘80s AIDS crisis, or heartbreak, there was a soundtrack. And that soundtrack didn’t just reflect my story—it refueled it.
For the love of music!
This is a resurrection. It’s the rhythm behind every time I’ve stood back up, believed again, or flipped the bird to death itself. You’ll hear rage, grace, grit, and God. It’s curated for fighters, lovers, rebels, and anyone trying to turn pain into power.”
One tough pirate's music playslist samples
THE SOUND OF ONE TOUGH PIRATE
For decades, people have known me as a fighter, a survivor, a truth-teller, an educator, a rider, a rebel — a man who refused to quit.
What they didn’t know, until now, is that I also create my own damn music.
These tracks weren’t made in a boardroom, a studio packed with producers, or some marketing machine.
They were born exactly where the rest of my life has been built —
in the fire.
In the sleepless nights.
In the grit, the scars, the faith, and the fight.
My music is an extension of my story —
survivor strength, gospel grit, biker soul, outlaw energy, and that raw pulse that’s carried me through 43 years of HIV, loss, resurrection, and purpose.
Every note. Every riff. Every beat.
It’s all me — straight from the heart and from the highway.
This isn’t background noise.
This is testimony — The Gospel According to One Tough Pirate.
Below is one of my first officially released tracks — paired with real footage, real fire, and the real me.
There’s plenty more coming.
LET’S. F’N. GO.
music for the soul - fight on!
HIV isn’t a “gay disease” or an “addict’s disease.” It’s about behavior. 👉 It’s not who you are. It’s what you do that puts you at risk for HIV
"Music kept me alive when medicine couldn’t. It was the voice in dark when no one else knew how to speak.”
– Bob Bowers
Knowledge is power!
I don’t chase comfort — I chase the fight.
I’ve been knocked down more times than I can count, but I keep getting back up — one steady step at a time.
Just showing up in the body I fought for, in the life God handed me, carrying the scars that tried their best to end me.
Some days I look in the mirror and think,
“Damn… that dude’s still standing?”
But here I am — creating my own music to tell my story the way it deserves to be told, still moving, still choosing life, still grateful for every breath.
This fight was never about perfection.
It’s about refusing to quit.
It’s about faith.
It’s about hope.
It’s about rising again and again, no matter what tried to break you.
Never surrender. Fight on.
🏴☠️🔥👊
About One Tough Pirate
Everlast at the house of bluES
What an honor to meet and hang out with Everlast aka Erik Schrody after seeing him perform at The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip - October 2000
whitey ford sings the blues
One of my all-time favorite albums from Everlast. I heard the song "What It's Like" for the first time in the car driving to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. Little did I know I would have the honor to meet him within the year.
sheryl lee ralph
What an absolute honor it was to meet singer, actress, and HIV/AIDS advocate, Sheryl Lee Ralph at the 2012 International Conference on AIDS in Washington, D.C.
straight long-term hiv/aids survivor bob bowers
I rode in alone
I rode into town the way I’ve ridden through life — raw, windburned, unapologetic.
Mask. Glasses. Leather chaps.
Everything today’s social-media robots would flag or misinterpret.
Everything the algorithm claims “hurts visibility.
faith and hiv/aids
National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day reminds us that faith and HIV can’t stay in separate corners. The call is clear: educate, advocate, support, and partner. It’s about collaboration, amplifying truth, and eliminating stigma — inside churches, in communities, and within ourselves.
HIV/AIDS activists - aids activism
The history of AIDS activism is a testament to the power of grassroots mobilization against systemic indifference and political inertia. Emerging in the 1980s as a response to the devastating toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the slow pace of government action, activism was defined by a shift from quiet mourning to assertive, direct action. Organizations like ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) revolutionized the landscape by combining sophisticated media strategies with civil disobedience to demand faster drug trials, affordable treatment, and an end to discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
Straight men living with HIV/AIDS -- bob bowers
It's not who you are it's what you do that puts you at risk for contracting HIV
Throwback to one tough body—and the even tougher love that surrounded it.
That was me, twenty years ago—ripped, shirtless, and already deep into the fight of my life with HIV. This photo was taken during the ACT 2 AIDS Ride (Wisconsin AIDS Ride), where warriors pedaled for something way bigger than any one of us. But the real flex? The people beside me. Especially my dear friend Chris Root on the far left, rockin’ that yellow cap and Montreal AIDS Vaccine Ride shirt.
Chris wasn’t just a friend—she was family. Her compassion, loyalty, and belief in me shouted louder than any stigma ever could. She showed up in every way, not just at rides but in the trenches—handing out condoms and clean needles with me in some of Milwaukee’s roughest neighborhoods. She pedaled hard, loved harder, and made damn sure straight men like me—too often forgotten in the HIV conversation—were seen, heard, and hugged through it all.
We did that outreach under the leadership of our late brother Steve Madsen, a motorcycle-loving harm reduction warrior who gave everything to the people he served. Steve passed from lung cancer far too young, but his spirit still rides with us.
That day wasn’t just a photo op. It was a snapshot of survival, chosen family, and standing tall with the ones who never let you fall. Some photos fade with time. This one? Only gets brighter.
HIV does not discriminate
The phrase "HIV does not discriminate" means the virus can infect anyone, regardless of who you are, but societal stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV are rampant, fueled by myths and bias, affecting access to care, jobs, and housing, despite legal protections like the ADA. People with HIV face unfair treatment, but laws protect their rights, while education combats myths that fuel stigma and behavioral changes (like U=U, Undetectable=Untransmittable) help normalize lives.
NEVER SURRENDER! NEVER FORGET!
Long-term survivorship
I’m not just a long-term survivor — I’m a fuckin’ outlier. Four decades deep with HIV in my bloodstream, still standing, still speaking, still swinging. I’ve buried more friends than I can count, swallowed more pills than I can remember, and stared down death more times than most folks ever will. But I didn’t just survive — I lived. I fought. And I learned how to turn pain into purpose. Every scar on this body, every tear I’ve shed, is proof that HIV didn’t win — I did. Long-term survival ain’t just about meds. It’s about mindset. It's about movement. It’s about never letting the virus steal your soul. I’m still here, still fine AF, and I ain’t goin’ nowhere.
~ Bob Bowers
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 50% of people with HIV are older than 50 years and account for 70% of total deaths among people with HIV.”
—The Lancet HIV in a series on Aging with HIV on February 2
screw stigma
" “I’ve been flippin’ off stigma since 1983 — this time, I’m doin’ it on my own terms.”
—Bob Bowers, Straight. Positive. Still Here. "
Straight Men with HIV/AIDS Are Here
— And Always Have Been
HIV/AIDS doesn’t care who you are — it cares what you do.
While many still wrongly assume HIV only affects the LGBTQ+ community, the truth is that heterosexual men have always been a part of this fight. From the 1980s to today, straight men have been living with, advocating through, and surviving HIV. We’re not statistics. We’re fathers, husbands, veterans, teachers, athletes, and advocates. And we're not silent anymore.
CALL TO ACTION:
Are you a straight man living with HIV/AIDS? Want to be featured here with your story? Reach out!
If you’re a straight guy who just tested positive for HIV...
HIV long-term survivor bob bowers
You’d never expect a guy named Evel Dick to help rewrite the HIV narrative—but that’s exactly what happened. Two straight men—both raw, loud, and living on their own edge—ended up on VH1’s Couples Therapy. Me, an HIV-positive advocate with decades of scars and survival; him, a reality TV legend with his own demons. But beneath the chaos was something real. That show wasn’t just drama—it was a lifeline. For Evel, it cracked open truths he’d buried. For me, it proved that reaching hetero-to-hetero matters. Straight men living with HIV/AIDS don’t often see themselves in this fight—but I’m here. Still standing. And yeah, sometimes survival looks like the most unexpected brotherhood.
Bob Bowers is a 43-year long-term survivor of HIV/AIDS.
I’ve been riding motorcycles since the time of my diagnosis, and every mile has been a form of therapy, survival, and rebellion. It’s not just about twisting the throttle—it’s about riding with purpose. That’s why I created Ribbon Warrior MC. This ain’t a hobby. It’s a calling.
This ink is a declaration.
Every line, every symbol, every drop of black and red was earned in blood, sweat, and survival. Tattoos became more than therapy—they became armor. Ice-breakers for tough crowds. Shields in the fight against stigma. I started getting inked for each year I survived with HIV—and over time, they told the story louder than words ever could. This isn’t just body art—it’s my battle map. A visual gospel. And every tattoo reminds the world—and myself—that I'm still here, still fighting, still standing.