Dima* takes a sip of beer and his eyes fill with tears. He rarely talks about why he decided to put his activism on hold. He remembers that it was a rainy day in 2017 – the kind of day when residents of usually sunny Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, prefer to stay at home.
He had been planning to visit a local infectious diseases clinic with a man he had been in touch with. This man, a well-known Uzbek musician, had been feeling unwell for a long time, and Dima had promised to support him in getting his first HIV test.
This was part of Dima’s activism. He had been using dating apps to offer support and advice to fellow gay men in Uzbekistan who felt they might be HIV positive – a journey of fear and despair that he’d gone through himself some years before.
