I highly doubt Governor Andrew Cuomo has read my novel, but his recent announcement of a three-point plan called “Bending The Curve,” reads like he has.  At the very least, Cuomo is listening to AIDS activists in a way that few politicians (outside of President Obama), have listened in the past two decades.   His announcement of the plan, outlined in the New York Times last week, on Gay Pride was clearly an appeal to gay male voters, but I say, if any politician wants to pander with a bold move like this, then let them appeal away.  I for one, am grateful to see someone at a state level stepping up to the call for an AIDS Free Generation.

But I have to point out that even the New York Times coverage makes the plan seem PrEP-centered.  His plan involves more than just getting HIV Negative men to take PrEP.  It works because it is holistic, and attempts to provide for all.  In addition to PrEP, it also uses state money to find HIV positive people who are unaware of their status and to get them into effective treatment.  It also helps pay for effective treatment for people who are positive but can’t afford medication that suppresses their viral load and keep them undetectable.  

This blog post is a video that we pulled together to accompany the audio tack of my recent interview on The Frank DeCaro Show. The interview was conducted by the show's regular guest host, Dennis Hensley, as Frank was traveling to NYC for gay pride.  Dennis and Frank are both old friends of mine, so when I got an email from Dennis, asking if I could join him on the air the next day,  I jumped at the chance. 

At Sirius/XM, the offices and studios were bustling with the amazing energy that I remember NYC to be all about, a guy in a suit standing next to a guy in shorts and flip-flops, each in line for the same bathroom stall, each anxious to get through the line fast enough to stay on schedule.  I was thrilled to finally see the infamous “Rainbow Room” at Sirius/XM OutQ radio....

June 5th of 2014 was the first ever National HIV/AIDS Long Term Survivors Day.  While many organizations around the world took part, the day itself was organized by the San Francisco based Let’s Kick Ass, the largest and most vocal group of Long Term HIV/AIDS survivors.  They regularly provide events and panels to create a community that empower those of us who survived the worst of AIDS and are still kicking.  (The organization likes to suggest a more purposeful kick, so yes pun was intended).  The organization of this commemorative day was moving and powerful for me, as it was for many others around the country and world, especially since many of us have felt our stories became irrelevant to those around us once effective treatments became a reality. 

June 3rd was my 45th birthday.  When I tested positive at the age of 20, I was told that if I was lucky, I might live two years.  My mother spent a few years preparing herself, and agreed to make my final arrangements according to my wishes, not hers.  It was the most loving and parental thing either of my parents ever did for me.  Then she got a mild form of cancer. Even then no one in my family, or in the medical community, expected that I would out live her.  But every three months for eight years, I went to the doctor and my life expectancy was raised by exactly three months.  

As I wrote my novel Sally Field, not a day went by that I didn’t remind myself of Larry Kramer’s work, and what an important impact his play The Normal Heart had on an entire generation. So you can imagine my dismay to learn that in a New York Times profile this past Wednesday, Larry Kramer called users of PrEP “cowards.”

Sally Field Can Play The Transsexual is a work of fiction. So is its main character David. But the book contains many pieces from my own story, and I think it is important to go on the record as to the parallels. I will do that in this blog in bits and pieces.