After training for four years at UofT Opera, Justin decided that classical music was no longer for him. He went back to school and completed his Bachelor of Education and, afterward, his diploma in Deaf and Hard of Hearing education. From 2015 to 2017, Justin taught at a school for the deaf in the Gambia. In 2018, he decided to return to school once again and completed a diploma in social work, doing his internship at Asian Community AIDS Services.
As a person living with HIV, Justin participates as an HIV activist, working as an HIV outreach worker and counselor in Kenya and volunteering at the PWA (People With AIDS) foundation in Toronto. He is active in the community, bringing awareness to issues affecting PHAs like HIV stigma and criminalization. He is an ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research and appeared in the 2019 MUCH studio documentary, “Positive,” which illuminates the lives of queer and trans Millenials living with HIV.
Justin is an avid photographer and regularly creates photo stories about LGBTQ+ and poz folks, of which are routinely published in ‘Where Love Is Illegal.’ His recent photo stories of Black Lives Matter in Toronto have also garnered publishing interest.
Justin is currently a choir director at two churches and loves to sing Gospel and RnB music. His proudest moment as a singer was singing last summer (2019) at the Toronto AIDS Vigil. He is happy to be a part of the Southern Time Band as a rock opera band singer and HIV advocate.