Interesting to read through this thread again today. I came across "Philadelphia" yesterday on the tube and watched it for a while and of course it brought it all back to me. I was 27 in 1980. %0D %0D Most of the posts by younger guys on this thread are nice- interesting, and of course there are a few from the trolls- call them outlyers who want to make of gay men something special (selfish, decadent, etc etc) without realizing that gay men are, of course, everyone- they are you, they are prejudiced, they are tender, they are selfish, they are generous- they are just like you- they are everyman and everywoman.%0D %0D Funny but I have been thinking of an apt comparison today where many people seem disconnected from a terrible reality. I think it says much about how terrible things can happen and continue to happen. We have a volunteer military right now. In my youth, we were drafted. I KNEW people who went to Vietnam- some like me- privileged, affluent. Who today knows guys with blown off legs and arms? How many men and women do you know killed in the Middle East wars? Who today really thinks about those wars we have been fighting in the Middle East- the Iraqi war was and is a great blot on American history- why no response from young people? Because they were not and are not in line of fire as were my friends and brothers, literally, in 1970-5 when I became eligible for the draft. That is one of the major reasons the entire youth of the US got out and demostrated to end the war.%0D %0D In 1985 many straight people were very much like this. In 2011 many young gay men are like this. God bless those on this thread who are looking for some history and understanding-you are the better angel among us. Some on this thread criticize the older generation as being decadent- and on the other hand some engage in unsafe sex as if it was nothing. When your friends get sick and die in front of you- you come alive to realities and actions that you otherwise would not take, or even imagine you would take. The clueless and harsh posts would be almost non existant if you were living through what some of us older guys lived through- and the wars in the Middle East would have ended or not even started if there was a universal draft (as essentially there should be- it is a great check on wreckless wars.) %0D %0D HIV mobilized my generation like nothing else- and as straight people became touched, they too mobilized. Lesbains as some have pointed out were extraordinary- but then most knew gay men.%0D %0D I think that is the experience. Horror first hand or horrow second hand. Reactions are quite different. As I said- I am touched by those who want to imagine and want to know what it was like. It was surreal having death all around you- young friends dying horribly- some rejected by their families as they died- and believing in your own case it was just a matter of time. For the most part- people rose to the occasion- normal people, everyman and everywoman as I mentioned above- rose to the occasion and eventually lived through it with a certain amount of hope and dignity. That was a huge thing for me to see and realize at the time. Some of my friends were magnficent in their time of great trial. I will never forgive those who should have been able to empathize and act, in fact are trusted to do so- (Reagan etc, elected public officials)- but I also do not have much patience for those who condemn those who even now get sick. Human beings are far from perfect and need to be helped past and through their imperfections, now and always. %0D %0D But do, do your best to practice universal safe sex. It is not your sex partner's responsibility to protect you, it is your responsiblity.