In less than two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed more Americans than have died from HIV/AIDS since the AIDS epidemic emerged 40 years ago. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that more than 700,00 Americans have been lost to HIV/AIDS as of 2019, the last full year for which [...]
Cover art detail from Never Silent by Peter Staley Activist Peter Staley's much-anticipated new memoir, Never Silent, opens with almost unbearable nail-biting suspense, sweeping us into the behind-the-scenes machinations of an ACT UP takeover of the New York Stock Exchange at opening bell. It's legitimately dangerous, timed to the second, and absolutely thrilling, [...]
File this under “things they don’t tell men about getting old.” If you qualify, this might help you. I am a long term HIV survivor at the magnificent age of 60 years old. They don’t tell guys that if you live long enough some clinician is going to slide a tube down your penis. It’s [...]
Steven Reigns, author of A Quilt for David You probably don’t know his name, but you might have heard the name of his most famous “victim.” In 1990, dentist David J. Acer was accused by his patient, Kimberly Bergalis, of infecting her with HIV. It was the start of an onslaught of accusations [...]
Ultimately, the organizers of the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) ran out of viable options for hosting the largest annual HIV conference in the country as an in-person event. For weeks, as the delta variant of COVID surged and the prospects for any large in-person gatherings this fall diminished, officials at NMAC, which [...]
Photo by Matt Roth My sex life in the 1980s before AIDS came along was glorious. My endurance level was Olympian, my sexual response time was faster than a wink from a cute man, and body fluids went flying like they were shot from cannons. Today, I am 60 years old. It’s easy [...]
And when you’re gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story? Who tells your story? Who tells your story? — From the musical Hamilton In March of 1985, I stood in the kitchen of my West Hollywood condo. The phone was attached to the wall, and I can remember how [...]
Michael Gottlieb, MD (photo: Elizabeth Nathane) This June 5, 2021 marks 40 years since the famous report in a CDC publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), in which Dr. Michael Gottlieb outlined the troublesome cases of five gay men dealing with pneumonia and skin cancers. It is widely considered the “start” of scientific [...]
Last night I sat with my husband and a member of our pod (is there a more 2020 expression than that?) as we watched a perfectly sweet and entertaining movie that gets pretty sad at the end, and throughout its last twenty minutes I cried like my mother had just died. I cried the first [...]
Sir Elton John has always shown great generosity towards younger artists, especially those with whom he shares a sense of theatrical DNA. At the Brit Awards last night, the legendary performer and lifelong HIV/AIDS activist proved his taste for talent is still incredibly well-placed, owning the stage with Olly Alexander (Years and Years) for what [...]
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