It isn’t very often that any of us can play a tangible role in honoring and preserving the legacy of one of the pillars of our shared history. Here’s just that opportunity. Michael Callen is someone many people consider to be the original long-term AIDS survivor. He...
I’ve known my best friend Charles for more than 40 years. He knew me when I was HIV negative, for goodness sake. That’s how long we’ve been besties. When Charles was interviewed recently for a story about my advocacy, he said something that surprised me. “Mark almost...
There are so many governmental and community programs that refer to “ending the HIV epidemic” that you might be excused for rolling your eyes a little when you hear about one. What do they even mean? Ending the HIV epidemic how, you might wonder. And for whom? Those...
The HIV Cruise Retreat, which has brought tropical fun and a sense of community to people living with HIV, their families and allies for the last twenty years, will sail to the Caribbean this fall. The fact the cruise is happening after the passing of organizer Paul...
There must have been something in the water at those New York City ACT UP meetings back in the day. There had to be. The band of ferocious, cheeky AIDS activists (immortalized in the Oscar-nominated documentary, How to Survive a Plague) has produced scientists,...
Any LGBTQ writer who has endured the gauntlet of getting their book to a reading audience knows what a frustrating, fitfully satisfying process it can be. God only knows how many queer masterworks are trapped in laptops because the writer has no idea how to navigate...
(I tested HIV positive 38 years ago today. My 2017 POZ Magazine essay still rings true.) The young woman sitting across from me on the bus is in her mid-20s. She turns to her companion and her voice grows serious. “I know someone who died,” she says in the hushed tone...
(As it appeared Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in The Atlanta Journal Constitution.) As a high school junior in 1976, I was selected to play former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter in our mock presidential election. It taught me a lesson in politics – and the performative...
(As it appeared today, January 13, 2023, in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.) 'The bungalow that housed a mix of horror and heroics is gone, but its legacy isn't.' The humble, sagging bungalow that sat until recently at the corner of 12th Street and Peachtree Walk in...
‘Tis the season, y’all. And you know how much I love a nice holiday video. Okay, maybe a naughty one, too. The folks at Mistr, the telehealth platform that provides free PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and STI testing, sure do have my number. They’ve just released a...
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