There are trials by fire, and then there are trials by wildfire. Nursing student Brian Thomas never imagined his on-the-job education would transform into fighting on the very front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, or that he would be forced to take extreme safety precautions each time he arrived home from his internship at a [...]
The flyer was in my mailbox, folded and placed by an unknown neighbor. “NEED CORONAVIRUS HELP?” it read, explaining a local “Self-Quarantine Response Team” was here to support those “with compromised immune systems, those in quarantine – or even those who must work or have kids or feel isolated due to social distancing. Please retain [...]
Alon Reininger Contact Press Images People ask me if our lives today feel like the early years of HIV/AIDS, and I want to scream. There is no comparison. Just stop. No one cared about people dying of AIDS in the early years of the pandemic. The stock market didn’t budge. The President didn’t [...]
Somewhere well into Every Grain of Sand, the mesmerizingly sad and ultimately transformative new memoir by recovering addict and sex worker David P. Wichman, the reader might wonder just how much more they can take. There are harrowing accounts of childhood abuse, of the bottomless cruelty of parents and the heartless whims of child protective [...]
(This essay appeared in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of POZ Magazine. It plays off the fact that it was written in advance of publication, in late 2019, and how fast-paced the downfall of our democracy news cycle can be. One thing is certain: my Trump Trauma remains, and I intend to do something about it [...]
First things first. I don’t believe the national HIV agency, NMAC, acted thoughtlessly toward people living with AIDS – only one of the accusations leveled against them -- when NMAC decided to change the name of their annual conference from “the United States Conference on AIDS” to “the United States Conference on HIV.” The announcement [...]
Tyne Firmin and Charles Sanchez (Photo: Mark S. King) Something struck me, maybe halfway through the uproarious screening of the new, second season of the musical comedy web series, Merce. I surveyed the packed room at the LGBT Center in New York City, the audience laughing, clapping, cheering on the characters and growing [...]
Well, I’m nothing if not consistent. My Fabulous Disease has received its fifth GLAAD Award nomination in the category of “Outstanding Blog,” becoming the first blog to receive a nomination for the last five years the prize has been bestowed. It has never won the award. Yes, the Susan Lucci jokes write themselves. “At a [...]
The gay men online who get off on seeking HIV infection (“bug chasers”) aren’t exactly known for their thoughtful introspection. After all, they are eroticizing something that works exactly once -- and has life-long consequences. So, a tweet posted a few weeks ago from a self-titled bug chaser stunned me with its honestly and vulnerability. [...]
What would the lives of gay men be like today if AIDS never happened? Filmmaker Leo Herrera’s answer to that question is a genre-busting web series Fathers. A dreamlike mix of actual historical information and clever wish-fulfilment -- with plenty of sex for good measure -- Herrera’s series takes us on quite a fantastical journey [...]
