(DALLAS, TX) Tyler Curry tested positive for HIV in June, 2012.

“I went in one day after work. I had my gym clothes on. I thought I would just get my good results, pop in and pop out,” he said. “The results weren’t so good.”

For months, Curry kept his status a secret, but he couldn’t keep up the facade for long. Having the secret made him depressed.

“I’ve always been a pretty happy person,” said Curry. “I was never going to find a way to become HIV-negative again.  This was permanent.  What was depressing me was having a secret for the first time in my life.”

Curry “came out” publicly as HIV-positive in December, 2012, with an article in The Advocate. The reaction was mixed, but Curry focused on the positive.

“It was the most incredible experience,” he said. “It was making a positive impact with the people that it needed to be made. It was helping certain people.”

The response to that article inspired his new campaign, “The Needle Prick Project.”

It has two parts: a weekly profile of someone affected by HIV, along with a photography campaign. Dallas photographer David Leggett is partnering with Curry on the project.

You do not have to be HIV-positive or HIV-negative to participate. You just have to be willing to talk about it.

“The point of the Needle Prick Project is to start a conversation,” said Curry. “There’s a lot of misnomers about what it means to be positive today, and I think the simplest way of educating people is creating conversations amongst their friends and family members.”

“I have a long life ahead of me,” said Curry.

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