Everyone has a family. Some of us are genetically linked to a group of people through our biological parents, thus giving rise to an arcane industry called ancestry. These are people we may or may not care about, let alone love.
We also surround ourselves with and immerse ourselves in communities of others with whom we feel some sort of affinity and identity with.
Either group of people can bring love and support to our lives; challenge us to support them; and as often as not, end up causing us grief as well as joy and happiness.
Note: I’d like to welcome those of you visiting this site from the forums at aidsmed.com. This may be the first time that a mainstream AIDS site has referred to this blog as a “clear-eyed ‘alternative hypothesis’ site,” and I’m flattered. Given that, I hope you will look around a bit. A good place…
When I received my HIV diagnosis in 1998, I withdrew from my community of gay men. I “went to ground”, thinking that isolation was the only safe place to avoid being criticized for seroconverting at such a late date, when we were all supposed to know better.
This past week has been yet another bifurcation point in my life. I returned to a community I have known about, if not been a steady part of, for more than 30 years. A community of men whom I could touch and hug. Men whose tears might wet my face and whose body heat and life forces I could feel in ways that can only happen in person. It really did feel like coming home.
Most of us in his Internet online community knew Gos as a vocal advocate of the AIDS dissident community; a group of people who question and challenge the mainstream theory that the so-called Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the sole and sufficient cause of AIDS. Yes, Gos was HIV-positive, but he insisted that the available scientific evidence does not support the notion that it is a sexually transmitted pathogen, capable of causing disease. Gos believed his positive test was a “false positive,” and the result of his pre-existing illnesses.
So, did Gos Blank die of AIDS? That was the original question, was it not? That is what both AIDS dissidents and the AIDS apologist trolls are waiting to hear, isn’t it?
I don’t know how it is possible to come to any conclusion that would satisfy both sides. Any answer given would only raise more questions, though not many new ones, really. Before anyone starts dancing on Gos’ grave, let’s examine some of these questions… in Gos’ own words as much as possible. (Unless noted otherwise, all blockquotes from this point on are from Gos’ book)
Nearly four months after his death, and a couple of months after the “final” autopsy report was released, Gos Blank’s wife, Lisa, receive additional information in the form of a letter with the subject: “Supplemental Final Diagnoses”. According to this update, dated February 11, 2014, a stain revealed the “presence of multiple cup and/or boat shaped fungal cysts located within foamy amorphous matériai within the alveolar spaces which were characteristic of Pneumocystis jirovecii microorganisms.
Who and why did someone type “jonathan barnett resistance dead?” into a Google search?
Was is it someone who had been missing my thoughtful, creative and witty writings? Someone thinking I must have died from not taking drugs for HIV? Someone wondering if I had died yet because I had started taking ARVs (at greatly reduced dosages) again?
My role as a gay AIDS activist was first featured in a special report on AIDS in the Kansas City Times, July 8, 1989. I recently unboxed some of the early media accounts of my life as an openly gay AIDS activist in Kansas City. The very first words in the very first article…
I mentioned in my last post that I frequently get messages from people, asking about something I’ve shared, or sharing their own story. A few days ago, I received just such an email from a person I’ve never met, but who I’ve come to know fairly well online, and we continued the exchange through…
Here’s another short outtake from the pre-show walkthrough that John Grosso and I had in a G+ Hangout On Air (HOA) earlier this week for tomorrow evening’s Rainbow Show. Live stream begins at 7 pm CST. Please drop in to view the show live, and ask questions via the comment stream on YouTube or Google+….
Remember when Google+ was launched more than a year ago to compete in the social networking arena with giants like Facebook? You don’t? Well, you’re not alone. Despite our love/hate relationship with Facebook, few of us who had grown accustomed to that place could find the time and energy to embrace yet another site…
This site is no longer updated, but kept online for reference. You should not see this popup notice on future visits.
While much of the information on this site is no longer current, it represents almost a decade of my life. It was a period of considerable reflection and writing was my therapy.
I have moved on from that era and am now moving into what will undoubtedly be the last chapter of my life. My love for writing and telling stories-mine, as well as those of others-goes with me. Join me, if you will, at jondbarnett.com for the adventure.
