positions He and Rofel I Living with HIV/AIDS in China 519 Of course taking drugs should be disliked,it should not be welcomed. But I could only turn to drugs to solve my own problem,to escape from reality...My mother also moved out of the city in order to avoid me. Of course I broke her heart before this,but she also could not accept my reality...not that I am sick,just that I am infected. His family actually could put up with him when he was a drug user,but would not accept him when he was exposed as HIV-positive. To Come Out or to Be Exposed Fan was not the only one who used the idiom of to be exposed to describe his disclosure and to reflect the negative meanings of it.Many of my infor- mants used the term to be exposed to illustrate what happened in their pro- cess of disclosure.Du Lin and Chun Tao were from Xinjiang and Sichuan provinces,respectively.They used exactly the same term,to be exposed,to describe the disclosure process. I met Du and Chun at an AIDS meeting in Beijing.They understood my research and accepted my invitation to come to my flat for a focus group discussion in December 2002.I interviewed Du individually first and he used to be exposed to describe his experience of how he was informed of his HIV-positive test at home by a group of police,nurses,doctors,and health officials;how these people soon spread the news in his hometown that he was HIV-positive;how he and his family were suddenly isolated and he went into hiding for a few years;how he was harassed by the marriage- registration officials who refused to authorize the referencing letter and showed him the local newspaper report of his HIV-positive case;and how a clinic doctor spoke loudly about his HIV status while many other patients were sitting around.Du called these people"the gang who exposed me." The health professionals,police,nurses,doctors,local authority,and media became a gang,because they exposed Du's HIV-positive status.By using the term "gang,"Du implicitly invoked the history of the"Gang of Four,"who were charged with bringing the political chaos of the Cultural Revolution.He also implied the long history of brigands popularized in classic novels.From Du's explanation,to expose or to be exposed means to Published by Duke University PressHe and Rofel ❘ Living with HIV/AIDS in China 519 Of course taking drugs should be disliked, it should not be welcomed. But I could only turn to drugs to solve my own problem, to escape from reality . . . My mother also moved out of the city in order to avoid me. Of course I broke her heart before this, but she also could not accept my reality . . . not that I am sick, just that I am infected. His family actually could put up with him when he was a drug user, but would not accept him when he was exposed as HIV-positive. To Come Out or to Be Exposed Fan was not the only one who used the idiom of to be exposed to describe his disclosure and to reflect the negative meanings of it. Many of my infor￾mants used the term to be exposed to illustrate what happened in their pro￾cess of disclosure. Du Lin and Chun Tao were from Xinjiang and Sichuan provinces, respectively. They used exactly the same term, to be exposed, to describe the disclosure process. I met Du and Chun at an AIDS meeting in Beijing. They understood my research and accepted my invitation to come to my flat for a focus group discussion in December 2002. I interviewed Du individually first and he used to be exposed to describe his experience of how he was informed of his HIV-positive test at home by a group of police, nurses, doctors, and health officials; how these people soon spread the news in his hometown that he was HIV-positive; how he and his family were suddenly isolated and he went into hiding for a few years; how he was harassed by the marriage￾registration officials who refused to authorize the referencing letter and showed him the local newspaper report of his HIV-positive case; and how a clinic doctor spoke loudly about his HIV status while many other patients were sitting around. Du called these people “the gang who exposed me.” The health professionals, police, nurses, doctors, local authority, and media became a gang, because they exposed Du’s HIV-positive status. By using the term “gang,” Du implicitly invoked the history of the “Gang of Four,” who were charged with bringing the political chaos of the Cultural Revolution. He also implied the long history of brigands popularized in classic novels. From Du’s explanation, to expose or to be exposed means to positions Published by Duke University Press