Lisa Britt is an advocate for HIV prevention. She is an African American woman living with HIV in Atlanta, one the more than one million people in the U.S. living with the disease. Diagnosed with HIV in 2003, she encountered the virus through unprotected sex with her then-boyfriend, a man she describes as being in and out of jail.
On a personal healing journey she thought about the mental aspects of being diagnosed with HIV. It was at that point that she began learning how to advocate for herself and for others. Lisa now volunteers on the Consumer Caucus Committee and the HIV/AIDS Planning Council Committee. She joined the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) to impact affordable and adequate housing processes for the HIV/AIDS community and works with the DeKalb County Board of Health as a peer advocate and counselor. There, she also serves as a member of the Client Advisory Board (CAB).
Lisa is the founder of Butterfly Girls, LLC, named for the symbolism of transformation for which the butterfly represents. Butterfly Girls is about transforming lives from the inside and out. It’s mission is to enhance the lives of adults and children who have been infected and affected by HIV/AIDS through education, motivation, and sharing her testimony. One of the efforts of Butterfly Girls included spreading HIV awareness through the radio waves. She will be a guest on Fisk University’s WFSK Health Watch show on July 28 at 7pm E.S.T. (88.1 FM or internet downstream)
What is your message of prevention to and African American woman engaged in a relationship?
Simple – until you know the status of your partner, continue to have protected sex. That is going to take getting to know each other. This a trust issue that can be catastrophic if not seriously considered. Infidelity is rampant to the point where people have re-defined it to make it okay to engage. No one can say for sure if their partner is engaging in risky behavior. Some should give much thought to continuing to have protected sex even after the status is known.
Facilitaign workshops, what question is asked the most by participants?
Because I am HIV-positive, they usually want to know if my husband is as well. When I tell them that he isn’t that sparks a whole other conversation because we have a daughter and she is negative like her father. I have to explain that it depends on the negative partner’s immune system (good condition and high) and the positive person’s viral load (the lower the better). Because of those factors, my husband did not contract the virus.
They also want to know if my family know about my status. They do and are very supportive.
What are the biggest changes you see in your advocacy work?
Communities are being more open to people who are HIV-positive. Through education, they know they can’t get it from toilet seats and water glasses. This has opened the door for more people who are HIV-positive to be advocates for prevention. We can speak openly without being villianized.
AIDS Survival Project – tell us more?
This was a resource center. That trained people to be peer counselors. It was instrumental in my work. Unfortunately, due to funding cuts, it isn’t in operation any more.
Fast forward to the year 2025, what do you want to see in regards to this disease?
Of course, I love to see a cure. But, regardless of whether we have one or not, a society where people have stopped with risky behavior. A world where people take responsibility for their own actions.
