32 People on Aids at 32

Among the 32 people Kergan Edwards-Stout asked to reflect on aids 32 years later are several authors: Frank Bruni, Trebor Healey, Patricia Nell Warren, Greg Louganis, Michael Musto, Richard Kramer, and MIchael Nava, whose memory from 1984 features a woman baffled by the idea of an angry protest against the diet candy Ayds. 

"Frank Bruni: I'm 48, have been "out" since the age of 18 and had many acquaintances and friends who, in the mid 1980s and late 1980s and even early 1990s, got sick and died. Only a few were close friends, and it saddens and horrifies me that they're no longer here. But what really saddens and horrifies me isn't personal loss; it's our country's loss, our world's loss. So much talent, so much verve, so much humor, so much mischief, so much generosity, all gone. For me the legacy of AIDS -- which, I hasten to point out, is still with us, not to be overlooked or belittled -- is an awareness of how unpredictably and mercilessly the future can disappear, how randomly disease can strike and also how dangerous and shortsighted it is for people themselves, and for society in general, not to confront public health threats immediately, vigorously, honestly and without denial or prejudice. The sadness that sticks with me is less about the friends gone than about the revelation of human and societal shortcomings."

Read all 32 in a Huffington Post slideshow.

Comments

[Kergan Edwards-Stout]

Thanks so much for sharing this!