James,
The 80s is when I came of age. Sex was a scary thing, especially if you were gay. It was almost seen as if you have sex you die. Add in all the other baggage I was carrying at this time and you just were plain scared to do much. At least my sex ed teachers did their best to dispel the rumors and mistakes, while giving us the truth about so much. Aids was a big scary thing that seemed to take so many gay men and once you had it you wore it like the Scarlet Letter - A - only instead of adultery it was AIDS and a death sentence.
I read this the day it came out and it took me a while to decide how to respond. So many memories came up. It took me a while to trust and allow myself to do anything. It was never a case of being in the closet. No more a case of being terrified to act on it and catch something. I watched friends of my parents, lively and bright one day, and gone the next in painful ways. For a while it seemed my parents were always attending a funeral. "Uncle Charlie" died, and his close friend Peter followed him. As a young teenager it didn't always immediately click that these men were partners til you heard of their funerals.
I'm sorry you had to deal with so much, but I am glad you were able to tell the story James. This another part of our history that can't be forgotten.