Blog Posts + Articles + Happenings
A Month of Superheroes: Georgia Arnold/MTV Staying Alive
Georgia, Gwenn and me in 2010 Georgia Arnold is the Executive Director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, which fights HIV globally by funding youth-led programs. Over the last few years I've been fortunate to see what they can accomplish firsthand, since I'm on the...
A Month of Superheroes: Ryan White
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Ryan White CARE Act. This federal program has provided so many services to the HIV/AIDS community. Much thanks goes to Ryan White, who passed to spirit in 1990, and his mother Jeanne for their role in changing the way people...
A Month of Superheroes: John Oliver
The new issue of POZ is out, entitled "Suppression Superheroes". You can check it out by clicking here. Inspired by this issue, I want to spend the next month highlighting some folks who I deem to be superheroes among us. They'll range from people I've met in flesh in...
Merce- Original HIV Comedy Series!
Now that 40 has sunk in, and I have recovered from my birthday festivities, I wanted to post an entry about one of my favorite new things: Merce! It's so over-the-top campy and kind-hearted, with a story that is centered around the middle-aged Merce, an HIV positive...
Stephen Gendin, 15 Years Later
(This blog post was originally published on August 1, 2010. Today marks 15 years since Stephen passed. - SD) --------------------------- Ten years ago I was getting a few emails from a friend about a special party for a positoid pal who "wasn't doing too well". But I...
The Big 4-0 is Here!
Today I turned 40. In 1975, I came into the world around 1:23 AM. That's a guesstimate. No one was looking at the clock the moment I was born. The family doctor was smoking. My parents had already gone through the birth of one son- two years later they were doing it...
30 Years to a Functional Cure?
I followed an internet wormhole to an article that suggested a functional cure could be up to 30 years away. At or least that was the thought of some know-it-all scientist who painstakingly analyzed all of the recent data on emerging treatment options... but what does...
World Hemophilia Day
Today is World Hemophilia Day. This rare, bleeding disorder has shaped my life in so many ways. As a kid, I was able to enjoy a normal childhood that included baseball, rasslin around with my big brother and the kinds of daredevil stunts that give parent's heart...
MTV’s RE:DEFINE Rocks Dallas and HIV
Full dislosure- I'm a big mark for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. They fund grants worldwide to provide young people with the tools and resources necessary to implement HIV prevention plans in their communities. You can learn more about them here. The Staying Alive...
Ryan White, 25 Years
Ryan White passed to spirit on this day 25 years ago- he was 18 years old, yet in that short time he educated millions of people worldwide about how HIV was and wasn't transmitted. Born with hemophilia, Ryan contracted HIV through his blood product treatments in the...
A New Wish?
25 years ago I met Depeche Mode. I was 14. Diagnosed with HIV for three years- but living with it for at least five years at that point- I was already past my expiration date according to my initial prognosis. When Ryan White passed in 1990, my mom was confronted with...
Live Long and Prosper
Today lovers of sci-fi and beyond are mourning the loss of Leonard Nimoy, best known for his portrayal of Spock in Star Trek.I'm not going to claim Trekkie status (is it "Trekkie" or "Trekie"?), far from it. I remember seeing Star Trek in syndication at my...
Take the GLAAD Celibacy Challenge
Gwenn and I are taking the Celibacy Challenge in solidarity with our gay, blood-donating friends.(photo by Christina Fleming)Would you give up sex for one year to donate blood?When the FDA lifted the the gay blood ban, that was their caveat. GLAAD, with the help of...
Until There’s a Cure… There’s The Cure
This year Friday the 13th and Valentine's Day ended up back-to-back. Which, considering how masochistic the emotion of love can be, seems quite appropriate. But, without love, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here. I'm going to write a list of a few of my Loves and, if...
Got My Brain Checked Out
A few years ago I was scheduled to get the inner workings of my brain checked out. I'm not sure what lead to the scheduling of the appointment, perhaps I confided in my doctor that I felt particularly forgetful or just not with it mentally. What I do remember is that,...
Limping Into 2015, Literally
"To survive in this world, sometimes you must have the eye of the over-sized domesticated cat." - me My last blog post was on December 4th- I was ending the year of 2014 in arguably the prime of my life: confidant and wearing a moustache for the first time, standing...
Cash for the Stache? Let’s Rock AIDS!!
You've seen the moustache... and more of me than you intended to this week... and, well, the time has come... so let's harness the full power of Freddie Mercury together! The fundraising drive for MTV Staying Alive is live- from now through Saturday you can make a...
My Sexy Freddie Mercury Shower Pic
The Freddie Mercury moustache has arrived in style on World AIDS Day thanks to Jack Mackenroth's #weareALLclean social media campaign/fundraiser for Housing Works. It's been so much fun to participate in and donate to this as I prepare to call on friends to donate to...
We Are Clean… AND the Champions (of the World)
Shawn is growing a Freddie Mercury moustache to raise money for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. Donations are doubled starting at 5 am EST on Thursday, December 4 and through Saturday, December 6(Click to donate!). Also, for every $1 donated Durex is donating 5...
The Power of a Freddie Mercury Moustache
I'm in the process of doing something I've never done before... I'm growing a Freddie Mercury moustache. I'm revealing the moustache on World AIDS Day, December 1. Then, with your help we will, WE WILL rock AIDS together for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. Because...
Former POZ Coverboy, Bob Bowers, Rocks On VH1
Last month I posted a critical observation of VH1's reality TV show, Couples Therapy. The post was in regard to how castmember Evel Dick's HIV disclosure (in episode 5, "The Truth is Out There") was handled. Two weeks ago, however, the show really stepped up when they...
Pedro Zamora, Half A Lifetime Ago
Today marks 20 years since Pedro Zamora passed. That's half my lifetime ago, but the loss still resonates with me because of Pedro's influence on my life and my work as an educator. His relationship with Sean Sasser on MTV's Real World showed me that a loving, healthy...
Miley Cyrus & Rihanna TittyF#%k AIDS (In A Good Way)
At a recent amfAR fundraiser, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna showed up in risque and boob-revealing outfits. Which is the same thing as saying that President Obama showed up to a State of the Union address wearing a tie. Some people may have been put off- but the outfits...
THE TOWELING: A Halloween Horror Short Story
Gary lays naked on his bed in his modest NYC apartment in the East Village. The window is cracked open and a breeze comes in as he channel surfs. He shouts towards the cracked bathroom door that is several feet from the bed. "Save some hot water for me!" Gary tugs the...
My Hep Story
When people think of my medical conditions there tends to be a pecking order... HIV gets top-billing, then hemophilia (raise your voices, my fellow thinbloods!)... and at the end of the line is poor ol' hepatitis. Hep allowed me to share my story about how hepatitis...
The HIV Question on Couples Therapy
Nina and Gwenn catching up over coffee in September. Last week I tuned into Couples Therapy on VH1 because I'd heard that Bob Bowers would be making an appearance. I'm a huge fan of the One Tough Pirate, former POZ coverboy and current HIV asskicker. Though it wasn't...
My 10,000 Days of HIV Summer
A few months ago I was curious about how many days I've been diagnosed with HIV. I did the math, starting at my diagnosis in March of 1987. Turned out that this July marks roughly 10,000 days since a test result sent shockwaves through not only my family but my...
Ethan Zohn: Cancer and World Cup Survivor
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. But in the United States it's a polarizing topic of discussion, not unlike the issue of abortion, Michael Bay reboots and fanny packs at theme parks. (They're practical, y'all.) This summer, I've come down with Soccer...
Interview w/ Merce’s Charles Sanchez
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Merce- a humorous web series that is centered around an HIV positive character living in NYC. I recently sat down with co-creator, Charles Sanchez... meaning, I sat at my laptop and fired him some questions and he sat at his and...
Gwenn Gets Tested For HIV
Today is National HIV Testing Day. It's so important to know your status. Last year, my partner and I made a video to show just how easy it is to get tested. Click here to find a local resource in your area, or consider an over-the-counter at home testing kit like...