Personal Story

Welcome, my name is Cecilia Chung. I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I moved to the United States with my parents at the end of 1984 when I was 19 years old—the same time the “mysterious” virus hit the gay community.

As a transgender woman, I had spent most of my life dealing with my own identity as well as sexuality—trying to find my place in the gay community did not solve my misery. I had tried to be the “perfect” son for my parents and to live my other life through drugs and alcohol. Through my struggles, I managed to graduate from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, in 1991. At the time, I was still struggling internally with who I am and what I am.

I began my transition from male to female in 1992, and I almost lost everything - my family, my job, my health and even my own life.

There was a moment of clarity in 1993 when I decided to turn my life around by offering my services to the transgender community and pursuing gender reassignment surgery. That dream was quickly shattered as I tested HIV-positive in August 1993. Knowing that there was no cure, I sunk immediately into severe depression—not mourning the loss of my life but my hope of actualizing my true self. The thought of living the rest of my life as a man was quite painful. I found self-medicating the only way to cope with my internalized rage. Yet, I refused to turn back. I continued to live my life as who I truly am—a woman.

My life came to another turning point on the night of Aug. 19, 1995, when two men assaulted me. Thinking that I was a biological woman, they tried to rape me. I resisted and was stabbed by one of the two men. That was the moment when I realized that my lifestyle would kill me before the virus would even have a chance. I got myself into a recovery program and have not looked back since.

The first year in recovery was the real challenge, as I found myself learning to live a new and drug-free life. That was also the time when I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue. The only driving force behind me was my newfound relationship with my mother and sharing my story with high school students. As my relation with my mother grew stronger, so did my health (the triple combination therapy might have helped a little). By the end of 1997, I was working full time as a substance abuse and HIV counselor, sharing my strength and hope with clients.

The happy ending to this took place on April 18, 1998, when my mother offered to pay for my gender reassignment surgery.

After working for almost two years in the field of social work, I realized that my true passion comes from doing service for the community. In 2004, I left the San Francisco Department of Public Health to venture into advocacy work in HIV prevention amongst Asians and Pacific Islanders. I am also the former president of the board of directors with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee. I continue to share my experience as a person with AIDS, an Asian and a woman.

As a person living with an incurable disease, I learn to become proactive not only in my health care but also in my nutrition needs. As far as my goal - I like to eventually free up my time to start my own non profit and to continue to advocate for all those who are disempowered and who has lost faith in humanity.

Website Desinged and Maintain by Cecilia Chung