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Fred

Thanks for all of the work that you have done for people with AIDS. I can't imagine how difficult this was in the early 80's. I have been living with full-blown AIDS for 14 years. Most of that time I was living in New York City; however, I am now back in North Carolina because of a recent medical setback. A lot of the bigotry that we saw in New York in the early 90's is still alive and well here in certain communities in North Carolina. In the mid to late 90's I worked with AIDS volunteer groups in New York, and in certain communities, it was dangerous to even say the word AIDS because of the hatred expressed by certain "religious" groups. Today there are still people dying without telling their relatives that they are suffering from AIDS. In some communities, people are still not getting medical treatment because they are afraid that the "neighbors" might find out that they have AIDS. I recently allowed Duke University to publish some of my medical information because there have been some positive quirks in my recovery process that may help others who have AIDS. My “Christian” mother attacked me for allowing Duke to publish my AIDS-related medical information. So I can only imagine the types of struggles you have had to face regarding the bigotry surrounding AIDS. Thanks for being willing to take on that bigotry in order to help others.

January 27, 2010