From The Ashes ...

This arrived In my mailbag

T--:
Just wanted to drop a line and say hi. I'm R---, 24yo poz guy from Houston. There aren't many of us poz bloggers out there it doesn't seem, or at least, that admit it. I found out April 6, 2000, and like you, the date is stuck in my mind forever. I'm glad you're coping with it and using the blog to do so.

Wanted you to also know that this isn't the first time Harvey has spouted off something totally fucked up. He wrote an Op-Ed in the NYT in July -- http://www.summerof03.com/poz/harvey.html -- which I've saved for posterity. So I guess his rant in Next wasn't his first nor will it be his last. Sad, too, for such a visible gay star to be such a complete douche.

Anyways, hope all is well with you and your health. I only know of you, Geekslut, and myself in this country and then a single guy in Britain, who hasn't updated since mid-Sept and could be ill.

Anyways.
R--- M-------

monceaux.blogspot.com

R---,

Thanks for the shout out.
My blog started out as a coping thing but became so much more for me. I'm glad to have a link to yours as well I'll add it to my daily reads. Thanks as well for the link to Harvey's NYTimes piece. Apparently, our girl needs to go to school about this subject. And I'm just the fag to teach her a lesson. I'm not going to stop until I know she heard me.

Do you mind if I post this e-mail exchange on my blog?

Please feel free to e-mail me about anything, anytime, much luck and stay well.

Anyways,
T--

So apparently Harvey's rant is part of a larger tack he's taking. Why Harvey has taken to HIV positive bashing is sort of beyond me. Again, I have to believe that he doesn't understand how offensive he's being. But maybe he doesn't care. I ran the whole scenario by a HIV negative guy I talk with on the reg. He totally didn't even need me to explain it to him because he had read the piece and had already seen how it could only be interpreted badly. I got some high praise from Neo who had no idea I was such an aggressive letter writer (In angry letter writing, I'm a top). As he expressed as well, this link that even gay big mouth activists have made that goes HIV positive = sick = terminal = you don't exist is sad and annoying and just.....lazy. If I have to be the one that waves his arms screaming "Hellooooooooo, I'm in the room MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!" I will.