Lesley was my closest friend to become sick in the 1980's, and he fought bravely until his death from AIDS. Today, there are little rituals I have to honor his memory, and I often write about him, the first of many friends lost to the epidemic. But there's something I will not do. I will [...]
A moment of reverence, please. In 1975, I went to the movies and discovered everything I needed to know about men, sexual allure, chest hair and the masculine ideal that would fuel my fantasies for the rest of my natural life. The film was Lifeguard and the star was Sam Elliott. You unfortunate folks under 40 may only [...]
It is every bit as absurd as it sounds. The International AIDS Society (IAS) plans to hold their global AIDS2020 conference in San Francisco – an insanely expensive and privileged city located in a country that has become dangerously inhospitable to the very populations the IAS claims to serve. Thank goodness for a growing army [...]
The presenters of the HIV Survivor Monologues: Lillibeth Gonzales, Bryan Jones, Teresa Sullivan, Mark S. King, Rick Guasco, and Esther Ross. “What family doesn’t have its ups and downs?” -- Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Lion in Winter The 2018 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), the HIV advocacy, education and networking behemoth produced [...]
(This essay, which originally appeared in the April/May issue of Poz Magazine, ignited conversations about "unexpected" AIDS deaths among those in our circle of friends. It is also the basis for a workshop at the upcoming United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) entitled "Are We Shaming Those Who Are Detectable?" The workshop will take place [...]
Attendees at the "OUT WITH IT" pre-conference of AIDS2018 in Amsterdam. One of the great joys of my HIV/AIDS writing and video blogging over the years has been capturing the sights, sounds, and incredible people of the International AIDS Society’s (IAS) biannual conference. I’ve spent sleepless nights in hotel rooms everywhere from Vienna [...]
Mark S. King and co-producer Theodore Tsipiras The International AIDS Conference will be held in Amsterdam on July 23-27, and My Fabulous Disease – that’s me! -- will once again be there to share daily video reports from the event. I have attended and provided video coverage for each of the bi-yearly conferences [...]
Kevin Mack speaks to supporters in Potomac, Maryland The garden party fundraising event last month in Montgomery County, Maryland, had all the usual markers of a political candidate on the rise. Well-dressed children frolicked on the lawn of the stately home while guests helped themselves to finger foods and glasses of wine. Several [...]
“I have HIV antibodies older than you." -- Mark S. King, when having to contend with anyone under 35 years old Just in time for the annual HIV Long Term Survivors Awareness Day on June 5, The Reunion Project has released a new video in which people who have lived with HIV for decades discuss [...]
It’s no surprise to me that the two causes I am most passionate about, HIV and addiction -- the two issues that drive my activism -- are both things that my older brother, Richard “Dick” King, cared about first. He showed me the way. May 16th marked the third annual “National Honor Our LGBT Elders [...]
