Every 10 seconds someone in the world dies of AIDS. (via)

The other day Ahmed casually mentioned in conversation that a mutual friend from sixth-form, Jon, is HIV-positive.

Jon and I are not in contact nowadays, but I still think of him from time to time. The last time I saw him was in 2003, when his lovely Latino boyfriend had front-row tickets for Mariah Carey’s concert at Wembley (I was in the second row).

Jon was my first gay friend, and he was so accepting of my teen bizarreness. He took me to gay clubs when I decided to write a report on the gay community for Sociology, and he opened my eyes to many things that I’d never seen or experienced before (or since). He told me about various orgies he’d enjoyed in gay saunas, etc., but I don’t know how careful he was during those encounters.

Jon lives somewhere “up North” now, but I’ll ask our mutual friend to pass on my number so that we can hopefully catch up.

Written by PJ | Posted in my life

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