Markus Volk is dead. As a role model for ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU and as an ambassador for the "Positiv zusammen leben" campaign, he campaigned for acceptance of people with HIV. And how! We say thank you and will not forget Markus.
Jesus, Markus. I found out two hours ago that you died yesterday afternoon, aged just 32. We had known for some time that there was nothing we could do about your cancer. Now it's a reality, you're no longer alive. And immediately I see you in front of me, as you were in life.
I remember exactly when I saw you for the first time, at the campaign launch of ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU. It was a big event at Clärchens Ballhaus in Berlin-Mitte. You were on the big screen, telling us about your life with HIV in the campaign film "Positiv leben". Very open, very self-confident. I was there as a TV journalist and let my eyes wander around the room. And there you stood in person, saw yourself on the screen and had tears in your eyes. The thunderous applause then swept you away for good. It took you a moment to regain your composure. And then you told me into the camera why what you were doing was so important to you.
Let's put it bluntly: you've been through a lot of shit. Deported to a home by your foster parents because they didn't think a gay son was acceptable in their village. Infected with HIV as a teenager. When you tested positive at 18, you were already seriously ill and were given a full dose of medication. You recovered and got fit again.
"Experiencing discrimination makes me strong"
And you had to realise that life with HIV can be damn hard. During your job interview, you were told that the other colleagues couldn't even use the same cutlery tray as you. "It's your own fault, you AIDS faggot", you were told, even by other gay people. That affected you deeply. You experienced discrimination time and time again. You were rejected by people who had found you attractive just a few moments before. And you've lost supposed friends because they thought you were useless: "He won't be around much longer anyway..."
"Whoever thinks that, I'll dance on their grave again one day," you said, "I won't be gone that quickly." And then you showed that life with HIV can also be beautiful and powerful.
Not only did you not let yourself get down. You said that experiencing marginalisation made you strong and it was immediately clear that this wasn't just a hollow phrase. You were courageous and powerful, without denying that rejection hurt you. And then you spoke openly about everything you had experienced. Because it needed to be said.
You became a role model at ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU to demand from other gays what they themselves always demand: Acceptance. When the nationwide World AIDS Day campaign "Living Positively Together" was launched in 2010, you decided to be an ambassador in the very first round. There had never been such a campaign with HIV-positive people in Europe before.
"I am HIV-positive" - nationwide and larger than life
I remember when you went in to the press conference for the "Positiv zusammen leben" campaign at the Ministry of Health on Friedrichstraße. Totally excited, but also completely sure that you were doing the right thing. You were a real pioneer. Your face was emblazoned on billboards, at bus stops, in front of a climbing wall, together with two close friends who hadn't run away. "I am HIV-positive", nationwide and larger than life - that was great cinema, Markus.
You have made yourself highly visible. Some of your colleagues found out about your infection because campaign postcards with your portrait were on display at one of your workplaces, a cinema. Hiding your HIV infection any longer was out of the question for you. It would have crushed you, you said. So out with it! You did well with that.
I remember how happy you were when the cashier at the supermarket recognised you: "I've seen you on TV and I think what you're doing is great." Bingo.
"I'm not a round thing with nubs on it!"
Sometimes it would have been easy to swap exclusion for compassion. But you didn't want that either: "If a reporter looks sadly into my eyes, I tell them very quickly: 'Watch out, that's exactly what we don't want. We want to show that we are strong! And we want to protect those who aren't strong."
In principle, your message was very simple. The focus should not be on HIV, but on people. "I'm not a little round thing with pimples on it," you always said. And you knew that you had to take away people's fear if the marginalisation was to stop. People should see that people with HIV are people like themselves. "The issue is not so far away now. We are normal people and now people know us by face."
Dear Markus, your message has been heard. Your commitment to ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU and "Positiv zusammen leben" was great, touched many people deeply and encouraged many other positive people. You were larger than life, and you remain alive in our hearts and in the lives of many others. We say thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Wherever you are now, our thoughts and good wishes are with you.
Interview with Markus about the "Living positively together" campaign
