How's Everyone Feeling Right Meow?

[Regina]

Oh. My. God. Lucian Piane... I'm just taking all this in.



On one hand I love him dragging Hillary Clinton and Perez Hilton, go in, tell the truth... but then he does the exact same thing Perez does by outing HIV+ People. And then don't get me started on the foot fetishizing on Instagram, ugh...

You need help henny, big time.

[vorlon13]

Speaking of the hiv, I hadn't been tested for a while, so, due diligence, went and had a needle prick and a 30 minute wait, and bazinga, still negative.


Only angle was some artwork in the office that had me choked up after I looked at it during the wait. I asked about it and it portrayed what I thought it did . . . .

[Regina]

My friend had a scare last year, he was convinced he was showing symptoms but thankfully came back negative

Actually I'm due a trip down the clap clinic myself, been too long. I don't suspect I have anything, but best get checked.

[Edwardo Piet]

I love everyone who lets me just be myself so fucking much they're so fucking awesome.

I feel accepted.

I love those who see me for me. I love being me.

[vorlon13]

My friend had a scare last year, he was convinced he was showing symptoms but thankfully came back negative

Actually I'm due a trip down the clap clinic myself, been too long. I don't suspect I have anything, but best get checked.

I was like that before finding 12 Steppers.

Turns out the pills and drink were screwing me up all on their own, and my imagination did the rest.


There was just an article in the paper recently about some of the earliest hiv cases, and what's known now about that time.  Some preserved tissue samples from the 70s turned up.  HIV was present and spreading long before "Pateint Zero". Not mentioned in the article though was how the case tracking thru Patient Zero helped establish how it was happening.

I'm aware of a sudden and unexpected death in the Midwest of something eerily similar to PCP in '78.  Too late now to ever find out if it was or wasn't hiv, but it's something that has rattled my cage for decades.  A friend of mine in the 80s who died 'rattled some cages' at the hospital he was at.  They had hiv cases before him, but he was different, he had never traveled out of Iowa.  All the other cases they had seen up to that time had all been diagnosed in NYC or Frisco and then they traveled back to be with family.  My friend was the first at that hospital to have contracted it in the state.

I haven't lost anyone I know to it in years.  2007 if I had to hazard a guess, and that was from medication side effects and underlying heart disease.  For my group, the worst of it was over in 95, and just a few 'stragglers' since.  And it wasn't so much treatment had improved by then, it was more that all the hiv+ people I knew had died by then.  Not counting hiv+ people I have subsequently met at 12 Steppers, damn few of my friends from the 70s onward who were positive survived.

The artwork at the office had the faces of upwards of 40 people in it, close enough,  . . . close enough

too close.

[Regina]

My friend had a scare last year, he was convinced he was showing symptoms but thankfully came back negative

Actually I'm due a trip down the clap clinic myself, been too long. I don't suspect I have anything, but best get checked.

I was like that before finding 12 Steppers.

Turns out the pills and drink were screwing me up all on their own, and my imagination did the rest.


There was just an article in the paper recently about some of the earliest hiv cases, and what's known now about that time.  Some preserved tissue samples from the 70s turned up.  HIV was present and spreading long before "Pateint Zero". Not mentioned in the article though was how the case tracking thru Patient Zero helped establish how it was happening.

I'm aware of a sudden and unexpected death in the Midwest of something eerily similar to PCP in '78.  Too late now to ever find out if it was or wasn't hiv, but it's something that has rattled my cage for decades.  A friend of mine in the 80s who died 'rattled some cages' at the hospital he was at.  They had hiv cases before him, but he was different, he had never traveled out of Iowa.  All the other cases they had seen up to that time had all been diagnosed in NYC or Frisco and then they traveled back to be with family.  My friend was the first at that hospital to have contracted it in the state.

I haven't lost anyone I know to it in years.  2007 if I had to hazard a guess, and that was from medication side effects and underlying heart disease.  For my group, the worst of it was over in 95, and just a few 'stragglers' since.  And it wasn't so much treatment had improved by then, it was more that all the hiv+ people I knew had died by then.  Not counting hiv+ people I have subsequently met at 12 Steppers, damn few of my friends from the 70s onward who were positive survived.

The artwork at the office had the faces of upwards of 40 people in it, close enough,  . . . close enough

too close.

I can't say I'm surprised it was around earlier, I guess "patient zero" in most cases is just the first one they truly detect

It's worrying with younger gay men though, those born in the 90s like me, because I think there's this mentality that it's over and it's gone away. We're not really educated about how to protect ourselves and we don't worry about it since we weren't around for the initial big scare of the 80s.

It's why, for me at least, one of the biggest LGBT issues around right now is more awareness of HIV for young people and more responsible attitudes to sex. It's all well and good focusing on getting marriage (which is important, I'm certainly all for that) but I think it's fair to say we've thrown all the sexual health information by the wayside in the pursuit of that.

[vorlon13]

My first hiv test was nearly 30 years ago, it's a funny feeling it's been that long . .

[Joods]

This is one of the things I worry about with my son, so if either of you two could give me help in how to talk to my son about being careful, I sure would be grateful.

[Regina]

This is one of the things I worry about with my son, so if either of you two could give me help in how to talk to my son about being careful, I sure would be grateful.

I'm really bad with this since I'm not a parent and my own parents never really spoke about it with me as a teen, but one sentiment I've seen with some gay kids is that they feel they're being singled out if you show a lot of (legitimate) concern over HIV. In response to that, I think it's important to tell them what the risks are and why that gets you so concerned. I suppose in terms of what you'd tell him it's just the really basic predictable stuff; the effectiveness of condoms and where to get them, where and how to get checked for STDs, potential medicines and injections that might help (PrEP, hepatitis injections, although these aren't very affordable it can at least get his awareness of what they treat up), how alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sex. I'd honestly really struggle advising how to open these conversations up though, but there's some good info here;

http://www.tusla.ie/parenting-24-seven/6...ual-health

Also there is still a stigma attached to having HIV among gay men and he needs to know that. Unfortunately there are people around who will have casual sex and "forget" to divulge that they have STDs, and so it spreads.

One great thing you could do is point him towards LGBT-oriented online communities or LGBT-specific sexual health clinics. That can create a more open and "normal" environment where he can see other LGBT people discussing these things, and get a support network around him. Even now I prefer LGBT-specific clinics because I feel both that security in being in a safe space and solidarity around other people like me. That can also help resolve the issue of him feeling awkward discussing these things with everyday people in his life if he is the only gay person he knows. I think that's so important for gay teens, I never had it as a teenager and that's part of the reason it took me so long to find and accept myself.

I hope this helps. I feel like it's not that great but hopefully it's something

[Joods]

Thank you
There is a GSA group in his school. I'd like him to join it, though I won't force him to. It would be a good way to make friends there. We found out two weeks ago that he was being bullied in class for wearing nail polish and carrying around a handmade purse. His boyfriend is in the welding program at school. My son is in the construction trades and says he hates it. He wants to move to either culinary or cosmetology next year and he stands a good chance if he keeps his grades up and his attendance is good. I will check that link out. Thank you so much!