Your Stories
Stacy Vasquez
It is difficult to know where to start in a ten year experience. Have you ever awakened and thought to yourself "why am I still here?" Many times during my service in the Army I wondered how I could be living the principles of leadership in silence.
As an African American...
My family has known all along that I do not and will not ever support discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. My discussions with my family since the issue of an amendment to define marriage as between a man and a women has come up has been based on my personal experience as an African American growing up in the ’50s and ’60s. I know firsthand the effects of discrimination, and I cannot tolerate or support it ever.
Our Family
We are Michael Bauer and Roger Simon, residents of Chicago, and we had our first date on March 13, 1982. A month later, we moved in together and have been life partners ever since.
The diagnosis
As a gay male, I believe that getting tested for HIV/AIDS is important. Before I was diagnosed, nothing indicated that I should be concerned about having it. It was simply time. A week later, I got a call on a Wednesday afternoon while at work.
On becoming an HIV/AIDS survivor
My status has always been a head-scratcher for my doctors. After being diagnosed six years ago with HIV, my body has not been following the program. My blood work was always good and my viral load always undetectable. What makes this all the more interesting is that I'm not on any type of medication.
Being by his side
Earlier this year, Bill and I went to New Orleans for an annual weeklong get-together with friends from college. We all went to a restaurant for lunch. Bill is highly allergic to shellfish and it was made very clear to the waitress he could not have any food prepared with shellfish. Unfortunately, he had a severe reaction to a pasta dish with sauce we later found out contained crawfish. The restaurant was not prepared to react, so we rushed to a drug store to purchase some Benadryl.