Jeff Keller. Photo courtesy of the Edmonton Journal Click here to see full sized version.

Jeff Keller is an educator, writer, lecturer and a family law lawyer practicing in Edmonton. He is also HIV positive. 

In 1994, Jeff was a third-year law student at the University of Saskatchewan. He was in the middle of Christmas exams when he got the news that he had been infected with the HIV virus.  He was told that he likely had a maximum of seven years left to live. He was 26 years old.

Jeff’s diagnosis changed everything — and nothing. Although his new reality was a daily grind of symptoms, medication and hideous side effects, Jeff soldiered on and graduated with his class the following spring.  

As a result of his diagnosis, Jeff’s life took another sharp corner. He found himself fielding questions in law school about his condition and the infection generally, and began to realize the need for greater public understanding about AIDS. Later, studying at the University of Manitoba, Jeff saw the same disturbing lack of understanding among fellow students and others about AIDS. He recalls a waiter that wondered aloud if he should throw out the dishes used by an infected man in a restaurant; and a fellow student who felt threatened by accidental contact with water from Jeff’s bottle.

On a larger scale, HIV/AIDS victims were facing threats from those who would have criminalized gay sex and who advocated tattooing those infected with the HIV virus, in the name of public safety.
Faced with the issue of public fear and ignorance about AIDS, Jeff has embraced his situation and taken on the role of public educator. Although he expresses a certain annoyance at having become a “stereotype” he calls himself, “a gay activist with a twist of AIDS.”  As an infected person, “that’s my job,” he said.

While still in Saskatchewan he published “On Becoming a Fag” in the Saskatchewan Law Review. And he worked as a hotline volunteer for Gay & Lesbian Health Services in Saskatoon and served on its Board of Directors.

Jeff’s “job” took him to Athabasca University, where he taught civil liberties and co-authored Civil Liberties and Individual Rights for use in the program; and then back to the U of S, where he was a sessional instructor in Sexuality and the Law. In 1999, Jeff moved to Alberta permanently and returned to Athabasca University, where he taught Alternate Dispute Resolution, Sexuality and the Law and Local Government Law.

In the meantime, Jeff received a string of invitations to write papers for and speak at various AIDS-related conferences, including HIV, AIDS and the Law: Taking Stock, Moving Forward at the Harvard Law School in 1998; the International Conference on Gender, Sexualtiy and the Law at Keele University, UK; and the Breaking the Silence Conference: Gays and Lesbians in Our Schools at the University of Saskatchewan.

In 2000 Jeff accepted a position at the Court of Appeal of Alberta as legal counsel. In September of that year he became the Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice, a position he held for three years. But in the fall of 2003, Jeff decided to try his hand at a more traditional law practice. He articled at Attia Reeves Tensfeldt Snow in Edmonton, where he practised family law.

Fortunately, great inroads have been made in the fight against AIDS. Fast-forward to January of this year, when Jeff turned 40. For most of us, it’s a slightly nostalgic milestone in life. For Jeff it was a huge cause for celebration. Surrounded by his family, who clearly share his sense of humour, they told him that, of course they had come to help celebrate his birthday. As they pointed out, “you’re supposed to be dead”. “Right”, said Jeff, “Good point”.

Jeff continues to practice family law with the Edmonton firm Barr Picard.  He currently sits on the Board of Directors for HIV Edmonton, a not-for-profit agency that provides education, support and advocacy for those affected by HIV. 

Jeff sports a tattoo on his arm that identifies him as HIV positive. For Jeff it represents a small measure of control over his body in a situation where he has little control.  The tattoo also embodies Jeff’s attitude that he has nothing to hide. He makes no bones about his condition, its cause, or the fact that he lives under a threatening cloud that is HIV. Notwithstanding, Jeff’s remarkable attitude has allowed him to successfully navigate through life so far with determination, insight and humour.