Inuvik (Feb 06/04) - When 38-year-old Trevor Stratton tested positive for HIV his life changed, but he wanted to make sure he would change other people's lives as well.

Aboriginal AIDS activist Trevor Stratton was in Inuvik in late January to share his story and drive home the importance of education in stopping the spread of the deadly disease. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

In 1990, the aboriginal man from the New Credit First Nation's Reserve in Ontario learned that he had contracted HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS.

Since then, he has become dedicated to the cause of educating as many people as possible about the dangers of unprotected sex in order to prevent the spread of the deadly sexually transmitted disease.

To do this, Stratton travels to aboriginal communities to share his story.

In late January, he was in Inuvik to speak to a small group of community members about living with AIDS and the importance of lifting the stigma of talking about the sexually transmitted disease.

In his early 20s, Stratton led a life few people can comprehend.

Living hand-to-mouth on the streets of Toronto, he had unprotected sex while prostituting himself and it is during this time Stratton believes he contracted HIV.

When some of his friends began testing positive for the virus, Stratton decided to have himself tested.

Two-and-a-half months later, he received news nobody wants to hear -- he was HIV positive.

Get the message out

"I don't want to walk on eggshells because I need to get a message out," he said of many people's reluctance to broach topics of a sexual nature.

"Often people don't want to talk about sex and using condoms."

"My goal is to make HIV and AIDS a dinner table topic of conversation and that's what all of this is about."

In addition to giving presentations, Stratton sits on three boards that try to address the issue of AIDS in the aboriginal community, including the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network.