I wasn't going to do this yet. But you start reading and listening and thinking…

My gay community ain't as big as it used to be. Not like it was ever that vast, and a significant chunk of it was lipstick lesbians anyway. It's more like I went this way and they went that way. So most of the people I've lost to AIDS weren't gay. The gay folks I knew established some discipline, fast.

And actually, if you don't care about gay folks getting AIDS, you wouldn't much care about the other folks I lost either. Hangout crew, street people, ex-junkies that cleaned up too late, but didn't find out for a couple of years.

I would say it doesn't matter WHAT you think. But it does. I know a guy who's HIV positive that didn't tell anyone for years. He didn't want to deal with the exile status. His girl found out later, and that sucks to the point I wanted to smack him.

He should have told her. But we all could have made it easier.

You don't have to be afraid of people who are HIV positive. You don't have to be afraid of people with AIDS. If you could catch it from just being around them, we'd all have it.

People with AIDS aren't evil. Some have been foolish, or unknowledgeable or just lied to. But they're not evil, and AIDS is no more a punishment than the flu…and a lot harder to catch than the flu.

I don't know if there's a lot of good biochemical news about AIDS. But I do know if we all weren't so stupid, frightened or closed-minded, there could be a lot less bad news on the personal tip.