Thread by @flyrebel

Today marks 40 years since the first cases of HIV surfaced. We lost a generation of our Black queer foremothers & fathers and subsequently parts of our oral history due to the disgusting, mishandling of this virus.

I say it all the time but as a Black POZ man living now, I always can’t help but to think of Patrick Kelly, Willie Smith and all the Black & Brown men and women who’s lives were cut short, of all the unmarked graves, of the stories taken from us..

Living through this pandemic made me constantly think of what our queer foremothers/fathers experienced height of the AIDS epidemic, losing all those beautiful lives, with no answers, no brighter days in sight

And how even today with “better” antiretroviral treatments there’s still a lack of access to health care, high premiums, stigma etc and rapidly growing disproportionate rates of Black populations living with HIV

Black people continue to be disproportionately infected with deep racial inequities in regards to access to HIV care

So yes it’s Pride month and we deserve to celebrate but there’s just so much shit that needs to be done

It’s something like 72 % of women living with HIV are Black & like 54% of men living with HIV are Black! Those numbers are crazy and show that something must be done!

So my sentiments about pride and rainbows and shit is jaded because we got real shit to do!!

Fuck these corporations commodifying Pride & the LGBTQIA+ community for the month of June, open yall purses & help with health care disparities in the Black south, help lobby for the de-criminalization of status disclosure, help fund initiatives to service Black trans people etc.

I could give a damn about a rainbow colored purse or sneaker! Where’s the real work? The real ally-ship???