"Doctor doctor, give me the news I got a bad case of loving you..." -- Robert Palmer I had to say goodbye to my doctor recently. I was moving out of state, and Dr. David Morris of Pride Medical Group in Atlanta (pictured at right) had been nothing but a patient,...
Secrets of the Masturbatory Male
May is National Masturbation Month " Hurry, folks! Only a few days left to celebrate! " and I'll admit to feeling smug, because I have more experience with masturbatory gay men than anyone else I know. During my years in Los Angeles in the 1980's, I owned (and oh yes,...
The Day Larry Kramer Dissed Me
The mall was abuzz, with people darting in and out of stores, wrangling their kids and chatting on cell phones. I preferred it that way, because it kept Larry in a fairly calm state of quiet attention, ever vigilant as to where and when his next mortal enemy might...
You can always go… Downtown!
She is brushing a crimson polish onto her nails with breathtaking speed, all the while trying on pairs of high heels to match her fingers, the color of blood, and yet she still has the presence of mind to patiently answer my questions. "We ain't Nero fiddling while...
My Pretend Life without HIV
My mother-in-law is visiting us this week. She's still active at 84, engaged in life, and accepts me completely as her son's longtime partner and a member of the family. So it's a shame she doesn't know the first thing about me. That first thing is the fact that I am...
October’s HIV Cruise Retreat is coming!
Ahoy! Or as I say in the promo below, "Yahoy!" (I was still learning my sea-faring lingo.) This October I'll serve as one of the hosts for the HIV Cruise Retreat, and this is a friendly reminder that organizers need to hear from you if you'd like to go. There's a...
What it feels like for a Mom
"A boy's best friend is his mother." -- Norman Bates, "Psycho" I was standing at the ticket counter of the movie theater and couldn't believe my ears. They were telling me that "Theater of Blood," with the great Vincent Price, was rated "R" and they were not letting...
How the Denver Principles changed AIDS (and health care) forever.
You must know this, because it matters. Because it has already changed your life and you probably don't realize it. It was 1983. Just a year prior, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome became the fearful nameplate for the murderer of gay friends and lovers. The virus...
The Shirt Heard ‘Round the World
So, living with HIV is still quite a shocker, it appears. Whether true or rumored, whether "HIV Positive" is voluntarily displayed as an act of activism or the status is maliciously spread on the internet, the label still packs quite a punch. And I have to wonder why....
My Very Last Night in a Gay Bathhouse
THE LAST TIME I went to the gay baths, some years ago, I stepped in poop. Actually, more like a pile of poop, because it crept up between my toes for a horrific second before I realized what my bare feet had stumbled across. I made the grim discovery while standing in...
