Fighting to make this a city for all of us. Former NYC Council Speaker.
Jul 12, 2019 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD:
On July 12th, 2009 I drank and used drugs for the last time.
It was a Sunday night and after drinking all day and being offered drugs by some friends at a club that night — I woke up the next morning hung over and with a pit in my stomach.
I went to work on that Monday morning and could barely stay awake at my desk. I remember blowing my nose and the tissues were full of blood.
I had dinner with a friend that evening and he ordered a drink and asked if I wanted one. I said no...
Apr 6, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: 20 years ago this week I came out in my high school in a small town in Massachusetts.
I was 16 years old and for years I was scared, depressed, despondent and at certain moments suicidal.
I was afraid of being rejected and ostracized by my friends and teammates.
I had just been elected co-captain of my football team and sports were my salvation and passion during high school.
Matthew Shepard was tragically murdered 6 months earlier and the country was mourning this vicious and hateful act.
Oct 1, 2018 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: Tomorrow is the first day of October and 14 years ago this week I found out I was HIV positive. I was 22 years old and in the moment and for the days and months and even years following my doctor giving me that news I lived with shame and fear and anxiety...
...I lost my job and health insurance a couple of weeks after I seroconverted. And I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to.
My doctor gave me the number and address for an organization in Chinatown that I hadn’t heard of. It was called @APICHAHealth...
