Buddies

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A   F I L M   I S   A   P E T R I F I E D   F O U N T A I N   O F   T H O U G H T

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Trailblazing film Buddies has been digitally restored, taken from the original negative, and is seeing a limited theatrical release, followed by a DVD, Blu-ray and On Demand release for the very first time.

Initially released in cinemas in 1985, the film is a moving and timeless portrayal of an entire era in gay history which is now marked each year by World Aids Day on 1st December. The very first full length drama about AIDS, Buddies focuses on 25 year - old gay yuppie David (David Schachter) who volunteers to be a “buddy” to an AIDS patient. The gay community centre assigns him to Robert (Geoff Edholm), a 32 year - old politically impassioned California gardener abandoned by his friends and lovers. Revolving around the confines of Robert’s Manhattan hospital room, Bressan skillfully unfolds this two - hander with devastating effect. Tragically both Arthur J. Bressan and Geoff Edholm went on to die from complications of AIDS.

Buddies, a film by Arthur J Bressan.

The Grass Is Always Grindr

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F O R E V E R

I T ' S  N O T  W H A T  A  M O V I E  I S  A B O U T ,  I T ' S  H O W  I T  I S  A B O UT  I T

Adam and Joe take a trip to the clap clinic after a Grindr hookup.

The Grass Is Always Grindr, is a new three part film series exploring barebacking, apps, PrEP, loneliness and self-esteem, from Leon Lopez's Brown Boy Productions, starring the smoldering Taofique Folarin, who plays closeted boxer Adam.

The first part, in case you missed it, is here. The final part is out next month.

More at Dean Street Prime.

BFI Flare 2018: 120 BPM

K A O S

at

B F I  F L A R E

L o n d o n  L G B T  F i l m  F e s t i v a l  2 0 1 8

"Drawing on personal experience, Robin Campillo’s extraordinary account of AIDS activist group ACT UP-Paris in the 1990s begins at a group meeting. As members discuss action and strategy, a small gang of fresh recruits, including HIV-negative Nathan, are welcomed into the fold. As Nathan becomes more involved in ACT-UP’s activities – from closed-off gatherings to direct action in medical labs, school playgrounds and political rallies – he embarks on a life-changing romance with outspoken group member Sean."

Back in 2013, two big AIDS movies dominated the (as it was then called) London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. How To Survive A Plague, and United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. A year later came Test, and The Normal Heart, and in 2016, AIDS comedy Pushing Dead.

All of these films are about the American experience of the AIDS pandemic, and its legacy. That matters, but what about the rest of the world?

Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (2016) is also (tangentially) about AIDS, reminding us the pandemic didn't just hit the United States. (By the way, I got Théo & Hugo badly wrong when I first reviewed it, and will be revisiting it in my next Flare review). In fact, as we discover in Robin Campillo's (Eastern Boys) breathtaking 120 BPM, France was the European country worst hit by the virus.

120 BPM already has an embarrassment of awards (the Grand Prix and Queer Palm at Cannes, and Best Film at the Cesar Awards, France’s Oscars), and rightfully so.

Nahuel Pérez Biscayart is the standout as Sean, who simmers with rage as his health declines through the movie. His relationship with fellow ACT UP member Nathan (a very handsome Arnaud Valois) is beautifully rendered (and leads to one of the most beautiful - and heartbreaking - sex scenes ever seen in gay cinema). ACT UP meetings are passionate, frustrating, fruitful and fruitless, but always engrossing. Euphoric club scenes mingle with shocking ACT UP protests (how do you make blood? Angelic Marco [Théophile Ray] knows how).

In the midst of death, and fear, and panic, this incredible, urgent film manages to be about life. As Shelley Winters says in The Poseidon Adventure, "life always matters very much, doesn't it?"

READ ALL MY REVIEWS FROM BFI FLARE

BFI Flare 2016: Akron + Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story

K A O S

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B F I  F L A R E

L o n d o n  L G B T  F i l m  F e s t i v a l  2 0 1 6

Akron

Benny and Christopher are first year students at their local university in Akron, Ohio. When they meet on the sports field they discover a shared passion – for each other. The thrill of a blossoming romance soon develops into a steady relationship. Christopher’s parents are supportive and everything is going well, until a spring break trip to Miami to see Benny’s mother uncovers a tragedy that involved their two families almost a generation earlier. The shock of the revelation drives the boys apart, as each retreats to the comfort of their own family. Can this unfortunate shared history really destroy their burgeoning love?

This is a gay love story with a difference, in which the boys meet, date, fall in love, meet each others families... All the things straight couples get to do in romantic movies. Akron, it seems, is a place where homophobia doesn't exist. Some of us might find that a fanciful notion. Others might be glad of a change to the playlist.

Gay cinema, it turns out, can be about things other than being gay, or things happening because you're gay. As in real life, things happen to our protagonists that have nothing to do with their sexuality. The drama in this film comes from somewhere else entirely, and that's a good thing.

Writer and director Brian O'Donnell debut feature is both flawless and accomplished. Akron, apparently, is a low budget feature, but you wouldn't know from looking at it. The film looks gorgeous. Veteran Flare programmer Brian Robinson asked O'Donnell at the Q&A where does Akron fit into Akron. The answer is there on screen, with every beautiful shot a love letter to the place.

Equally beautiful are the two boys (Matthew Frias as Benny, and Edmund Donovan as Christopher) who turn in delightfully naturalistic and understated performances. It feels, at times, like we're spying on something very private. That's a hard trick to pull off.

Everyone involved should be very proud of this future classic.

Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story

Benny and Christopher are the kind of boys who would have slotted straight into Falcon Studios in the '90s, in a movie like, say The Freshman.

Gay porn and gay history; what a heady mix. Writer and director Michael Stabile's film sheds light on the fascinating story of Chuck Holmes, the founder of the legendary Falcon Studios, who became obsessed with the notion of his legacy.

There is plenty of footage of older Falcon productions here, stretching back to the '70s, ensuring belly laughs at that much loved art form "porn acting" (being naturalistic is harder than it looks). But as fun as these clips are, they're less interesting than the story of the sex biz, politics, and hypocrisy that swirled around Holmes. And as a story of gay men in the '70s, '80s and '90s, AIDS inevitably rears its ugly head. All those clips of beautiful young men we all laughed at earlier in the film are followed by a sobering roll call of their death notices many of these print articles can be viewed at the film's official Facebook page). As always, we're left with less of a sense of shock at the losses, but with a feeling of astonishment that anyone survived the era.

Seed Money also touches on Holmes' dubious attitude to race in porn, bigotry that continues to persist in the industry to this day. Although the documentary doesn't dwell on the issue, it's appropriate that it's addressed. Falcon continued after Holmes' demise, and we can only imagine what Holmes would have made of the fragmented and decimated industry that exists today.

READ ALL MY REVIEWS FROM BFI FLARE

Yemi & Femi and the Day Eazy-E Died

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A r t  i s  n o t  a  t h i n g ,  i t  i s  a  w a y .

Up and coming strip superstars Yemi & Femi's last adventure - Bear Talk - was a roaring success last week. Here's their latest, proving the guys aren't all fur coat and no knickers.

Their very own book will be available soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this taste of their shenanigans. And you can always catch them on John's official site.

Copies of Yemi & Femi's debut - Yemi & Femi's Fun Night Out - are available for free (UK only). Contact John at john@teamangelica.com. For orders outside of the UK, please enquire.

On the Domestic Front: Scenes of Everyday Queer Life

Art

Skool
Art is not a thing, it is a way.

On the Domestic Front: Scenes of Everyday Queer Life, a new exhibit at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, illustrating "ordinary queer existence at home, at play, at work – and in dreams". Until 25th October.

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson - aka Tiger Mandingo - has been sentenced to thirty years in jail for not disclosing his HIV status.  Once upon a time, I knew a "Tiger Mandingo". This is my story.

Just over ten years ago, I spent the night with a man I met online, maybe on Gaydar (in the age of the app, does anyone still use websites to hook-up?) He was a professional male model, and although he was nearly twenty years older than me, he had the body of Tyson Beckford in his prime. And so, with Maxwell's Embrya playing in the background (as if I needed mood music) we got down to business. This guy really pushed my buttons. Maybe it was the age gap, his jaw-dropping body (and jaw-breaking- ), his swanky City apartment, his job (A. Fucking. Male. Model), I don't know. But in the heat of the moment (yeah, that's my excuse. Sorry Ma), I went in bareback.

I won't lie. It was fucking incredible. Even though I was at the peak of my playa phase, and had several prime cuts of beef on the go, this was the one. And despite what happened next, my night with the Male Model remains one of my personal Greatest Hits, up there with the Jamaican baller whose girlfriend came knocking during play, and [redacted to protect individuals from incrimination]. He invited me back a week later, and this time, the stereo was silent. Maxwell wasn't around for the shit that was about to come. "There's something I need to tell you," the Male Model said. "I'm HIV-positive."

This wasn't the most welcome news, and yeah, I was taken aback, momentarily, but not for long. I wanted more of that juicy, supermodel ass. So we fucked again. Yes, it was bareback. I figured that the damage had already been, I might as well enjoy myself. I was very young, and very horny.

My irresponsible escapades weren't completely uninformed. I'm a top, and so the risk of contracting HIV through unprotected anal sex is much less than if I were a bottom. In fact, I still find it hard to understand how the virus can pass from a bottom to a top, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it out there, aside from assurances of, "well, it can happen."

In the coming weeks and months, however, the blood slowly drained away from one head, to the other. Yes, my brain took over. What if? I wondered. What if he's given me the bug? Realisation gave way to cold terror, which eventually turned into a sort of grim acceptance of the reality: I had had unprotected sex with someone who was HIV-positive. Despite being a top, I was fucked.

It was two years before I finally dragged up the courage to get tested. The results were negative. I didn't have it. I'd gotten away with it! But two years of my life had passed by in a state of barely suppressed panic. Every cold, every ache, every pain... Was this it? Was it starting? So that relief at "getting away with it" turned to anger. Not at my dumb horny self, but at the Male Model. The more I thought about it, the more I blamed him. Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he tell me? WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME?

I wrote an article about the episode, in which I published his full name and pictures. I wanted everyone to know about this evil monster who had tried to infect me. That article remained on KAOS for several years, and I deeply regret it.

Years went by. Three of my closest friends - all of them young, black gay men - either became HIV-positive, or became infected by the virus. At some point I took down the article about the Male Model. And tonight, I read that Michael Johnson - aka Tiger Mandingo - had been sentenced to thirty years in prison for infecting one former partner with HIV, and exposing three others to the virus. I feel nothing but deep sorrow for Johnson, and a burning rage at the judiciary for handing him what can only be described as a cruel and unusual punishment.

So what's changed? Shouldn't I be on the side of his so-called victims? Or am I now biased because my own brothers are now living with this disease? No. What's changed is that I'm not a stupid fucking kid anymore. I grew up. I overcame my anger and realised that it wasn't the Male Model who was to blame for exposing me to infection: guess what, it takes two to tango. The Male Model didn't rape me, just like Michael Johnson didn't rape the men who willingly allowed him to do them bareback.

We were all of us grown men who knew what we were doing, and we all knew that there was risk attached to our sexual escapades. I could have put on a condom when I fucked the male model. I didn't, because it made the sex more pleasureable. My bad. For the pleasure of bareback sex with a college wrestler, Johnson's partners - who bottomed for him - took even bigger risks than I did. But Michael Johnson will pay the highest price. His "victims" will live normal lives - yes, even the one guy he infected with HIV will live a relatively normal life - but this young kid's life has been completely destroyed. He was remiss in not informing his partners that he was HIV-positive, but the real crime is the criminal lack of accountability shown by his "victims". They should all be deeply ashamed of what they have done to him.

Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves

WHAT I WATCHED

LAST NIGHT

WORDS BY ZEON KANE

I haven't slept the last few nights. The death - the prolonged, painful death - of a beautiful young Swedish boy has been playing on my mind. Rasmus died from AIDS complications in 1989. But that's too much information, I'm jumping way ahead. Already, you're tuning out. You don't want to think about young gay men dying horrible AIDS deaths; wasting away to skeletons, blinded, riddled with tumours. My own boyfriend - "clean", successful in his career, and In A Relationship (albeit with me, poor sod) - refuses to watch any of the many recent films about AIDS. During Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves, I asked him why, and he said, pointedly, "the danger of a single story", referring to Chimamanda Adichie's TED talk.

It made complete sense to me. He doesn't want the pain and horror of the past shackling him. He's Zimbabwean; a gay, African immigrant in Great Britain. He's got more than enough prejudice and preconceived ignorance to deal with. The gay stuff, he can jettison that. Easy. He's negative. His best friend is negative. I'm negative. AIDS doesn't need to hold him back. It's old stuff, forgotten. The future is now.

So what makes me different? I'm also an '80s baby, and an immigrant kid (twice over) too. Why do I need to dwell on AIDS? I've watched How To Survive A Plague, We Were Here, and Common Threads. I sobbed uncontrollably during HBO's The Normal Heart. I'm a Dallas fan. When I first watched it - on DVD - I Googled the cast, and was devastated to learn how several young, virile male cast members were AIDS victims. I know all about Hemphill, and Mapplethorpe, and Vito, and Gia. And it hurts; it kills me. It leaves a sickening, black hole inside me. Scores of fallen soldiers, lost forever... But still, I have to know more. I greedily devour every new entry in the catalogue. Dallas Buyers Club, Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves... Why, I wonder? Why do I feel the need to subject myself to Longtime Companion? Does facing the past honour the ancestors, the thousands of brothers lost too soon? Does stepping up to the cliff-face, facing the horror of the past head on, no matter how painful, mean something? I don't know, but I have to do it. I have to be a witness.

Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves puts us at Ground Zero, opening with an AIDS victim writhing in agony in a hospital bed. But its non-linear structure cleverly takes us back to this kid's childhood, to a family holiday. It does the opposite of The Normal Heart, which opens on Fire Island, inside an already thriving gay community, its players well and truly "in the life". Tears, on the other hand, delves into the past of our protagonists Benjamin and Rasmus, before breaking us into The Life. Together, we take those first terrifying steps, experience that first gasp of fresh air. That makes a huge difference; The Normal Heart talks about loss; Tears talks about the promise of a life - The Life - and then snatches it away. It talks about all those young gay men who never had a chance of a life, who might have had just a brief taste of it, between the repression of a closeted adolescence, and the freedom of the big city. It's in this detail that Tears is truly devastating: It makes it personal.

Rasmus is so young, so new and fresh and full of hope, a living, breathing baby gay. This beautiful kid, coming from the sticks, tells us everything about the scourge of AIDS. Rasmus tells us about the boys who loved too much.

Tears is also ruthlessly effective in telling us about the other victims of AIDS: of the men forced to watch their lovers disintegrate, and their families. Tears depiction of Rasmus's doting father is particularly effective. And then there's the draft dodgers: Rasmus's uncle stayed in the closet, stayed behind in that little suffocating village. He didn't get "the plague"; but there's a price attached to that, too, something expertly punched home in the finale.

This Stockholm story is also eerily historically effective. So deeply into the '80s does it take us that when, during the third concluding instalment a laptop appears, it's deeply disorientating. Each of the three episodes opens with stock footage of Stockholm in the early '80s. Boy, it worked for me.

It's 2014, and two of my best friends are HIV-positive. Numerous acquaintances, boys I once chatted to online, are too. They're all in their twenties, early thirties. We're still at war. But those two close friends, my little gay family, they'll be okay. They ain't going anywhere. With the way I treat my liver, they'll outlast me.

I look back at the last twenty years and I think, boy, somehow I got away with it. I've had so much unprotected sex in my life - some of it with HIV-positive guys - but I got away with it. I've sat in waiting rooms waiting for test results, and came out breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe it's because I'm a top (yeah, I know that's no get out of jail free card), maybe those bottoms were undetectable. But I got away with it. 

So, I can't look away, and pretend AIDS doesn't exist, as some do. I want to remember our ancestors, those lost boys, the ones who didn't ever stand a chance. Boys like you and me. I want to think about the unbearable horror of their loss. I want to feel something, no matter how much it makes me cry. You should watch Tears, and cry, and feel something for our lost boys, too. It hurts, it really does, but it matters. Wipe away your tears, and face the past.

kaos at the 27th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

How To Survive A Plague

"Greenwich Village, the mid-1980s. With the city’s formerly thriving gay population hit hard by the AIDS epidemic, the community became increasing despondent by the lack of treatments available and the apparent resistance from both the government and drug manufacturers to seek new cures. With time running out, hundreds of activists took to the streets, demanding research into new drug development. In the face of such crippling adversity, a community was forced to become its own doctors, its own pharmacists and ultimately its own saviours. Largely comprised of astonishing archive footage of political rallies, activist workshops and interviews with inspirational activists, How to Survive a Plague is a deserving nominee for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards®. A vital and rousing chronicle of how a community united to fight for their lives, demanding change and the respect they deserved."

In a way, it's not surprising that How To Survive A Plague ended up with an Oscar nomination. Here we have a story of incredible bravery, with a good-looking hero - Peter Staley - facing a seemingly insurmountable task. There's a pantomime villain (well, several) and a happy ending.

Of course, that's simplifying things. Peter Staley isn't the only hero of the piece (but he's one of the few who survived) and the happy ending is qualified, and it's not for everyone.

Everything you've heard about this picture is true. It's almost unbelievable. This is the story of AIDS that hasn't been heard before (film-maker David France points out that books, films and plays have tended to concentrate on the beginning of the epidemic - Plague starts six years into it) and it's told with amazing archive footage (Larry Kramer's "plague speech" is jaw-dropping). France himself was stunned at the sheer amount of footage he had available to him.

I'm halfway through my LLGFF schedule, and I doubt anything will top Plague. It's the biggie. Not only is it incredibly compelling, heartbreaking, enraging, affirming, but it's real, and probably the most important story about the gay community never told.

Tonight I'm seeing United in Anger: A History of ACT UP.
Check back for my review tomorrow!

Lost boys

DALLAS - THE 1980s night-time soap juggernaut - is back on TV, and despite an absence of some twenty years (the show ended in 1991) surprisingly little has changed.

Neither has the tired media reportage, with "glamour and back-stabbing" the favourite clichés being trotted out by hacks who probably never watched the show (Although it was before my time, I did. The commercial-free blessing of the DVD box-set has allowed me to catch up on all 14 seasons).

Dack Rambo

What those tired hacks don't mention are the many young, male cast members who died from AIDS: beautiful Dack Rambo, who played Jack Ewing (whose twin brother Dirk Rambo also died young in a car accident; real life tragedy worthy of the show itself), or Tom Fuccello, who played Senator Dave Culver, and, perhaps most tragically of all, Timothy Patrick Murphy, who died aged just 29.

Robert La Tourneaux

Recently, I watched The Boys In The Band. I'm ashamed to say it was only my second time, having stumbled on this brilliant cornerstone of gay cinema through Crayton Robey's excellent (and award-winning) documentary Making The Boys (which I caught at the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival last year). On this viewing I watched it with my BFF, Oura, and he loved it. Oura was born in 1986, the same year Boys cast member Robert La Tourneaux died of AIDS.

La Tourneaux wasn't the only Boys In The Band cast member to succumb to AIDS. Most of the cast, and some of the crew, had been wiped out by the virus by the early 1990s, something Robey's documentary shows to devastating effect in a stunning montage (at the 1.19 mark in the film). La Tourneaux's tragic story is perhaps the most affecting; an incredibly beautiful boy discovered by writer Mart Crowley on Fire Island, he played the hot escort in both the play and the film. But his association with the "queer" film destroyed his career. Addicted to drugs, he spent time in jail, begged his old cast-mates for money, and prostituted himself, before finally dying of AIDS. "He was enraged that he had AIDS - enraged - because he had so much more to do in his life," Boys executive producer Dominick Dunne says in Robey's documentary. And we see old footage of La Tourneaux on a talk show in 1980, still looking beautiful, talking about his fall from grace; it's heartbreaking.

Michael Sundin

Irving Allen Lee

All these brilliant, gifted, gay men wiped out long before their time, like fallen soldiers in war. So many of the boys in Paris Is Burning died young from AIDS. Fame's Gene Anthony Ray. The less well known names: Irving Allen Lee. Robert Reed. Michael Sundin. Kenny Greene. Jerry Smith. Kuwasi Balagoon. And Kenny Everett and Rock Hudson and Robert Mapplethorpe and Marlon Riggs... And so many more.

So next time you watch your favourite soap, or baseball game, or take a picture, just try to remember our fallen soldiers. They didn't stand a chance back then. Robert La Tourneax was "enraged" at his life being cut short by the virus. We should all feel enraged that he's not here now.

Remember our soldiers. Remember our lost boys.

The Guest Spot

Longtime readers of ka-os|theory might remember this post, from nearly three years ago. My good friend Ray had just told me had been diagnosed as HIV-positive. It's been a bumpy ride for Ray since then, and I asked him if he'd like to write about his experiences for ka-os|theory. This is his story.

I WRITE THIS entry as I lie in my bed with carrots, houmous and a bottle of wine. Not the healthiest of drinks to be drinking for someone who’s HIV positive, I hear you say. While that’s true, this is something that is kind of helping me write as I now go through the memory of what I’ve been through over the last two and a half years. The diagnosis, the medication, the side effects, the blood tests, the close calls, the tears... the list goes on.

On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

I received an email from my mother today. "Get thee to the physician," was the message. "Three of your relatives have dropped dead at a tender age, for no good reason."

She was referring, of course, to SADS - Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, a gift to hypochondriacs like myself. In fact, him indoors, my better half, immediately remarked that I was the last person my mother should have informed. No doubt he foresees a future where I use SADS to avoid things I don't want to do. My friend Alex thought it was some sort of delayed April Fools, and such a condition couldn't exist. He then imagined I could somehow milk it, and get money like Jade Goody.

My other friend, Ray, was more sympathetic. He said, "Does it not skip generations? Please don't drop down dead on me!"

Ray is the friend I've written about twice: when he first told me he had HIV, and subsequently, when our friendship was faltering, badly.

We've since patched things up, so much so that we spent Saturday drinking until 9am on Sunday. Him indoors went to bed at midnight and was up and out the door for a volleyball tournament by 8, when Ray and I were still drunkenly giggling at the trash on my iTunes.

Earlier that night Ray had told me how he'd been in hospital with pneumonia, and barely pulled through. He hadn't wanted to burden anyone with that. And that he'd struggle with the coming winter, and in any case would be lucky to make it to 30, never mind 35.

Ray is 22.

He's being very positive (ha!) and channelling all his energy into a HIV charity he's involved in, pulling together some big event with corporate sponsors and celebrities.

Me, I'm actually terrified, gripped with fear and panic. I never truly understood the outrage certain friends expressed about the rise in bareback sex, both in porn and the real world (Ray had safe sex - with his boyfriend - but the condom broke). Well, I did understand it, but it didn't quite resonate. It was all very nebulous, somehow not relevant to me. And now it's happening to someone I love very much, and it's like all the horror stories from the 80s, all the books and films and documentaries where it's a rapid slide into illness and death. No "one pill a day and you'll be okay" like everyone my age thinks it is these days.

I actually feel, for the first time, that I'll somehow collapse, or go mad, or slide into some form of increasingly self-destructive behaviour, if the worst happens. How could someone so young and smart and funny and full of life be taken - just like that.

And now, against this background of Ray's battle, I face this SADS nonsense, where apparently my heart might suddenly decide to stop working.

I'm reminded of a scene in the last episode of the dystopic Blake's 7 (where everyone dies). "Sooner or later we're going to drop into one of these holes in the ground and never come out," Vila complains, their space shuttle dropping into an underground hangar.

Our anti-hero Avon responds, deadpan, "Sooner or later, everyone does that, Vila."

Ain't that the truth.



Title quote: "On a large enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."  Chuck Palahniuk, American writer.

FORUM OR AGAINST 'EM

BACK IN JULY, a new occasional feature, "Forum Or Against 'Em" (a light-hearted look at the brain-sapping, deranged and frequently hilarious world of internet forums) made its debut.

That first excursion was a journey through a thread on BGCLive.com entitled, "I Have Sex With My Twin Brother". Today, we'll see what the great and good of BGCLive.com really think about HIV.

The thread is Would You Take A Picture With Someone Who Is HIV+. (Yes, really.) Enjoy (or not)...

WOULD YOU TAKE A PICTURE WITH SOMEONE WHO IS HIV+

dl_legendz

dl_legendz: I feel kinda bad because this really nice HIV+ guy asked me to take a picture with him & I had to politely turn him down. I told him that I have a reputation to uphold & people might start thinking that I am HIV+ when I'm not. I don't know what it is but people who are HIV+ just make me feel uncomfortable. Would you take a picture with a person who is HIV+

just_voyage

just_voyage: You're an idiot.

sportsboy255

sportsboy255: How the f***k are those people gonna know he's HIV+? Idiot....

_deon_: you so damn stupid.... you cant take a picture with one but yet aint asking for no kind of proof from the millions of niggas you THINK are trade yet dipping and duckwalking behind your back to be in those failed ass flicks you call porn.... i tell ya depth: I AM SURE DUDE WITH OVER THE 600 PEOPLE THAT YOU CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE HAD SEX WITH YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ATLEAST ONE HIV PERSON ALREADY, SO GET OVER OVER IT. AND THAT REPUTATION THAT YOU THINK YOU HAVE, ITS ALL READY low

alonzothomas

alonzothomas: No way. Cause I heard this thing on the news that if you even get within like five feet of someone who is + you might have a slight chance of maybe someday if you have sex without a condom get the disease. So I'm like f***k that man...I really hope that this thread is a joke.

_deon_

_deon_: you should feel really bad for being that dumb but i guess thats the appeal you going for.... the "i barely passed my ged exam cuz i could barely count to five and had to use both hands" look. i tell ya

_deon_: you know what get me...... he so concerned about taking a picture with somebody positive but has no problem posing in bgc defaults with the cast of high school musical..... oh its okay for the kids to not think you taking pictures with people with hiv but its okay to be known for f***king underage smottoms on random xtube and nubian101 clips....

victor_creed: wow...dude i dont know what to say to that...what immediately comes to mind (and please dont take offense) is that ur actions were cowardly. To stigmatize someone based off what someone may think from you taking a picture with him...man we have got to change peoples perception of this disease... Peeps with HIV arent dirty, nasty, EVIL or anything else that regular people arent. They are our brothers, sisters, aunts, mothers, fathers, and grandparents...Yo thats somebodys son. Dont you think he gets enought shyt from people for being gay AND HES POSITIVE so hes catchin shyt from the gay community too? And to treat him like that...Damn man. Thats fukked up. Yo we gotta do better man...or this disease is gonna take all of us outtta here...

dl_legendz: Well if he told me that he is HIV+ then I'm sure he has told others. When I typically see someone who is HIV+ taken pictures with people I assume they all are HIV+ because if most gay guys have got to the point of taken a picture together then they probaly have done something sexual before. I think?

un3xp3ct3d

un3xp3ct3d: Wow. That shows your maturity level. And who cares about REPUTATION these days? I mean really?? What's it gonna get you in the long run. PLUS if people thought you were HIV+ and treated you the way you treat them....how would u feel?

dl_legendz: You're right we do have to do better as a community but image is everything & I don't want people to think that I am HIV+ when I not. That could possible fu*k up future potential sex partners or friends because of false pretenses.

dl_legendz: Because I think if people see and/or think you hang around HIV+ people then they will assume that person is also HIV+ and ulitmately that person will start attracting HIV+ people whom are looking for sex, friendships, etc...

dl_legendz: Why do HIV+ people get so offended when someone speaks about HIV? I mean Cancer patients talk about their struggle with cancer. People with Diabetes talk about how their disease. Life is hard & not fair but I bite my tounge for noone.

2sik2breal

2sik2breal: dl im not gonna front like i kno u and s***t but damn u mus b a real wanna b in the hood niggas must laff at u behind ya back i seen ya videos thier not even cool that boyh wit the bandana over his mouth look like he 16 and ya forums are just ridic. even tghe 1 about ya son but us ttilll dippin wit gays sad s***t mah dude like and image srry thiers no image for u that s***t is just horriable i got no look im not try to bash u but im sick of seeing ya comments on s***t that i read thier so ignorAANT ARROGANT AND SAD DAMN SHAME...

dl_legendz: I don't surround myself around fake niggaz so I dnt worry about anything when i turn my back and if you don't like my porn then don't watch it problem solved.

dl_legendz: I told you I feel kinda bad for not taking the picture with ole boy. What do you mean the gay community outcast HIV+ people? Sh*t I'm HIV- and I feel like i'm the outcast(no pun intended) but I dont think I should have to go around apologizing because I'm HIV- everytime I see/meet a gay guy.

jkardashian: i mean your not cute so i don't know why he'd wanna take a picture w/ you anyways.

defyinggravity1

defyinggravity1: You know I have a family member who passed from HIV/AIDS and he would still probably be living if he didn't feel ashamed to get the help he needed... it's people like YOU who make it hard for them to survive with your shallow ass thought process trying to be cute on BGC... whether it was for attention, or for real! GROW UP! May God have mercy on your soul... and yes I took a pic with my cousin and him holding me as a baby... and I am proud to be in a memory with a HUMAN BEING that was a loving and caring person... despite his circumstances!

_envy

_envy: if this is the kind of dumb fuck'ry that is gonna be posted i think ima jus quit comin in the forums. pure fuck'ry.

switch5

switch5: NO disrespect, please don't take offense to this, but are you f***kin retarded? I'm POSITIVE an most of my friends aren't, most people wouldn't even think that I was. WOW, your so worried about what others will think of you, f***k what the next b***h thinks of you, what do you think of yourself love? I'll seriously pray for you right now. "You have reputation to keep," well answer me this what does my HIV have to do with you, I'll wait,......NOT A GOT DAMN THING!!!! Please don't let ignorance run your life. Kids lets get education!!!

dl_legendz: No Disrepect but when I get around people whom are HIV+ I feel uncomfortable. I won't drink after them, eat after them, have sex with them, shower after them, etc..

bewitched

bewitched: Jesus.... why haven't you been crucified for your idiocy? the depravity of your existence sickens me to NO END.

bmoreupnya: I think my IQ went down from reading this

thewhites

thewhites: YEAH UR RIGHT...DONT TAKE PICS WIT PPL WHO R HIV+ CUZ PPL R GONNA THINK U R 2...AND DONT TAKE PICS WIT WHITE PPL CUZ PPL MAY THINK UR WHITE...OH AND NOT GIRLS EATHER CUZ PPL MAY THINK UR STRAIGHT...OH...AND MAKE SURE THERE'S NO TRASHCANS IN UR PICTURE EATHER...PPL MAY THINK UR POOR...UR A FU***N DUMBASS!...HOW WOULD U FEEL IF UR SRTAIGHT BROTHER OR COUSIN SAID THEY DIDNT WANNA TAKE A PIC WIT U CUZ THEY HAVE A REPUTATION 2 UPHOLD AND PPL MAY THINK HE'S GAY? WE'RE BLACK AND GAY...WE HAVE NO RIGHT 2 OUTCAST OTHERS FOR WAT OTHERS THINK ILL ABOUT...

pay4it

pay4it: You have the be the saddest most uneducated sounding person I have even read a post from ..I am glad you didnt take the pics he should be ashamed to be around a closed minded fool such as urself thats prob the main person HIDING Hiv..grow up

defyinggravity1: OMG is this boy still getting slayed on here lol! It's been DAYS now lol! I mean not saying he doesn't deserve it, but damn! Check him and see if he still has a pulse because you all have read, slayed, kicked, dragged and HADOUKEN his ass all over this FORUM LOL!!

brand0n

brand0n: GOODNIGHT BGC...i officially can not take this site for a while. THIS FOOL REPRESENTS US...and theres a whole lot of them out there who are so ignorant that it makes it hard for the rest of us who know how to read-- get a job...ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING....GOOD F***KING NIGHT

dl_legendz: Unfournately I see no benefits from surrounding myself around people whom are HIV+ if I am HIV-. I wanna smoke a blunt and talk to my niggaz about all the sexy girls and guyz we've done piped on over the years. I can't do that with a person who is HIV+ because I think about them killing each(literally). I wanna show my friends my HIV negative results and them actually be happy for me. I wanna be able to walk down the street and get at a bit*h without them thinking that I got some kind of disease because I hang around or took a picture with someone whom is HIV+. I wanna get drunk and get wild in da club without some HIV+ person trying to hit on me because they think it's okay to approach me. Look, you know da saying "Birds of a Feather...." well I don't wanna be gulity by association.

atl_violin04

atl_violin04: personally ole DL LEGENDZ lol......i would be rather embarassed to take a picture wit yo frog lookin ass PERIOD! And one more thing..dl niccas don't have their pictures posted all on a f***g site (wink)

dl_legendz: I am not the only person in the gay community and/or heterosexjual community that has a "phobia" per say towards people with HIV. I have been taught ever since I was knee high to a grass hoppper to protect myself sexually so I can stay HIV- and I have listened and followed directions. I have sacraficed many nights that I could have had unprotected sex with some very sexy individuals but I declined because I didn't have a condom. Essentially I would be throwing all that hard work straight down the drain if I decided to pair up with someone who is HIV+ because then potential sex partners/business partners/friends/associates will ASSUME something that is not true and I would be stuck in a unnecessary compromised situation.

bag_of_fun

bag_of_fun: How f***king ignorant can one person be. Your c***t ass said a picture; you would have thought the guy asked you for sex, please do BGC a favor and delete your account now...SIMPLE B***HES...make me exhausted....

dj_high_life

dj_high_life: you know what i cant even knock you on this.... cause i use to feel the same f***king way... when i was in school they would be like you have sex unprotected or before being married or if you are gay then you will get hiv its will take 6 months to show up then with in 3 years you will get aids and die... so for 6 7 8 grade heath this is all i knew... my gay ass have gay sex imma get it and die... so when i was in college and even a few years ago when i first went pro as a dj i always thought how cold people do that to them self and get hiv... so when a hiv person hit me up i ws stay looking down at them becuase i thought i knew how nasty they were based off what i was taught.... but when i something told me to go get tested and i went to a aids center and after i tested (negative) i talked to the people there and learned about the virus... you need to be educated too homie... just getting tested is not enough... when i hear the news talk about h1n1 im like they should say the same about hiv... cause it is so easy to get that s***t outside of sex... so my point is i know how you feel but understand no one woke up and said i hope today is the day i test positive... but we do have to live with it in the world...

dl_legendz: I see what your saying to an extent but I really think that's why alot of people are constantly getting infected with HIV because they get "comfortable" around people whom are HIV+ and they let their guard down per say and start treating them as if they are HIV-. I am blessed to say I have been HIV- for 27yrs & I think I have stayed HIV- by using the typical "ignorant" methods. I don't have contact with people whom are HIV+, I don't drink after them, I don't eat after them or have sex with them no matter how much I educate myself on HIV prevention. I strongly believe in "out of sight, out of mind" theory.

hbiclumu

hbiclumu: whoa... *closes door

dl_legendz: Maybe we are looking at HIV from 2 different perspectives but my so-called "ignorance" has allowed me to stay HIV- negative & i have passed my so-called "ignorant" techniques down to other young MSM whom look to me for guidance and direction which I am proud to say they are also HIV-

computa_luv

computa_luv: Well yall dont have to bash the brutha. All he did was ask a question but he didnt sound too stupid. Besides the reputation part. Either way at least you told the guy politely, instead of cursing him. Me, I probably wouldn't have gave a damn to take a picture cause I taken pics with fake ppl, murders, child molesters, sexist, hiv+, family members who's used me....ect. So it wouldnt have bothered me to take a pic. So I guess it can be a different sense in KNOWING cause some ppl can talk on here or wherever (whether male, female, or trans) what they'd do and wont do, but if someone came up to them and said they were hivp and wanted a pic. They'd probably freaked out once they heard HIV and ran with they heard POSITIVE! And last thing...shyyt he might have said something crazy, but at least he was being honest and bold to say something you thought was stupid. Hell a lot of ppl aren't even that about themselves cause if someone else who's str8 knew you were gay. They probably wouldnt want you around meaning (celebs having gay fanz but dont like them, family, str8 frenz), and probably wouldnt want a pic either! Not saying all people are like that but trust me, a lot of yall have been around those who talk about gays but they dont even know they're talking to one in from of them hahaha! OH WAIT!!!, I forgot to add in those who are gay/bi and talk about gays to keep their REPUTATION as str8 hahaha!

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