No matter what we do, sex is a beautiful gift, because it is such an exhilarating feeling, and it’s such a positive way of getting the feeling that I am wanted in this world, I am respected in this world, and I am loved in this world. And it’s what we all want.
In July of 1985, I was in a relation with another person. He had been very ill, so while he was getting tested, I figured I'd get tested too. We both became HIV positive patients. He only lasted till October. [...]
I’ve been to places like that where people over 50 live. And these ladies, older ladies, say: oh, but he’s so good looking, and he’s so clean. And he’s such a good dancer. Does she ever ask him if he’s ever been tested? No.
The guy that I was so madly in love with lost about fifty pounds. He couldn’t go out dancing all night. We used to go fishing all day, dance all night. And he could hardly walk. I said, "what’s the matter with you?" He wouldn’t say anything. So the doctor called me over and he said, "have you been tested?" [...]
Linda: I look at him how he was, and I look at him now, I feel so bad. Because I remember the vibrant Thomas, you know, not the Thomas that can’t hardly get up. He’s all skin and bones, and it hurts me just to see how skinny he is.
Thomas: I’m thinking I’m one way, but I see somebody else in the mirror.
Linda: He’s ahead of the game ’cause he still got life. Think about all the people that’s not here, that had the disease. [...]
I don’t feel old. I never thought of myself as being 57, 60. I didn’t think that far, you know. I feel young at heart. I like to have fun. I don’t know, just being happy.
They didn’t expect me to pull through. I was really sick. They gave me last rites. But I survived. And here I am…Which I’m glad. I don’t know the exact date that I got it, but I would say about 20 years ago. I think I got it from my husband. I’m pretty sure, pretty sure.
Louis: She took a chance with me. It’s funny, I’m positive, but I didn’t wanna ask a woman that was negative if they would like to go out with me, because of the rejection that I might get. But then I noticed, I was feeling alone. And when I saw her for the first time, I said you know what? I’m gonna take a chance, I’m gonna ask her.
Rosalia: And I said no. I said, no, but then later on …okay, you can continue...
Louis: …but later on I decided, yeah well, I’m not gonna let that NO stop me, and I waited a week, I think, and I asked again, and she said yes. [...]
I wanted to do something that made a difference, and that’s why I took the job for Mayor Daley as his representative to the gay & lesbian community. A spokesman for one of the radical groups said I was too old to represent gays and lesbians. You have this ageism in the community -- it’s so youth-oriented, you don’t feel welcome. As if you turn 40 and you turn straight or something. I can assure you that didn’t happen. [...]
I would like to say that it’s not the end. There was a time when somebody said you had HIV, you felt like you were doomed. But they have come so far in our society with this disease that people are living much longer. I tell you, I couldn’t feel better. I’m 60, and I’ve had it since ’91. [...]
Certainly, since the advent of protease inhibitors and the real progress in antiretroviral medication, the ability to treat HIV infection and slow down the progression to serious illness and death is very real. However, the disparity in being able to reap the benefits to the treatment advances is also very real in the United States, and certainly when one looks at the global epidemic. Health care is still very much a privilege and not a right, so a person’s socio-economic status affects the degree to which he or she has access to the medications. There are racial disparities in health care which make the ability to take advantage of the medications an issue of race. So, the disparities that we have in our society continue to play out in the AIDS epidemic. [...]
I was always working on my music. That was a part of who I was. I was practicing instead of going out to play baseball or do sports. That was in Birmingham, Alabama. And I left Birmingham when I was sixteen. Graduated Wheaton College with a Bachelors of … Read More…
I met my husband in a night club. He was one of the musicians there and I used to go because I liked to dance. He was the love of my life. We had a wonderful marriage, you know. We were best friends. We were lovers. And we … Read More…