Survivors of 1980s AIDS crisis reveal what happened to them

[stevenleser]

11. I think I have shared this on DU before but...

... the first time I ever met someone who was openly gay was back in around 1980, my mother took in a roommate to help pay the bills during a difficult time after she and my dad split. "Patrick" was a professional ice skater from the UK and I saw my mother and him every other weekend as my dad had custody of me. He remains one of the kindest hearted folks I ever met.

A year into college in 1987, I believe, my mother told me that Patrick had died of AIDS.

I remember as I became more politically aware later in life and reexamining past Presidencies and putting together Reagans inaction on HIV/AIDS and Patrick's death and becoming completely enraged at Reagan. It was an early lesson on how political policies can have devastating and very personal effects.