CDC states that black women have the highest rates of HSV. When I (F23) got diagnosed w ghsv1 I was so worried that no other black guy would want to date me because of it. Our community makes a lot of jokes about herpes, especially online, and there’s rarely any conscious educational conversation about it. I just want to share that despite the stigma I’ve had a lot of black men be very accepting about my status. I want any other young black woman struggling with her status to know that youre not gonna be forever alone if you want to date black men lol. I hope this post doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable, I’m just sharing because when I first got diagnosed at 18 I didn’t think any black guys my age would want to even touch me.

EDIT: I just want to say to all the people that are asking for my prompt that it is specific to GHSV1 and it’s nothing special lol, it’s just what has worked for me. It’s simply how I talk in a very casual manner so it comes off more upbeat and not a bunch of medical terms to scare people off. Feel free to tweak it if you have something else besides GHSV1 though. Or you could simply just ask “have you ever had a cold sore?” And go from there. That kinda gives you a chance to gauge their reaction because if they say something like “ew! No!” Then you know not to waste your time. Good luck guys