Gay Activist Pioneer Arnie Kantrowitz Dies, For Clueless Straight People: HIV is Not a Death Sentence Anymore, Ryan Field Books

Gay Activist Pioneer Arnie Kantrowitz Dies

I remember reading about Arnie Kantrowitz in the old-fashioned made of paper gay newspapers. There was a time in the 90s, before everything went digital, that I would stop in at gay bars just to pick up a gay publication. Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) was a big one for me. You couldn’t get them anywhere else. Your local gay newsstand or newspaper store did not carry any gay content…unless it was covered in a wrapper and hidden in the back.

But I digress. Kantrowitz was a founding member of GLAAD, which was started to counter all the negative pieces the mainstream media was writing about AIDS at that time. I don’t remember them in detail because I was too young, but I do recall the general sense of negativity and anti-gay sentiments. He was also President of the Gay Activist Alliances in 1970. You have to remember that in his day being gay or LGBTQ was not accepted by most people in the mainstream. Mostly, it was whispered about. And for people like Kantrowitz who helped start the “Gay Liberation Movement,” it couldn’t have been easy.

“He was a leader of the generation of activists in the immediate aftermath of the Stonewall Rebellion who put their lives and livelihoods on the line to advance the cause of gay liberation,” Andy Humm wrote last month on GayCityNews.com.

Here’s more. According to Kantrowitz’s life partner, he died of complications from COVID. If you know nothing about gay history, read this.

For Clueless Straight People: HIV Is Not a Death Sentence Anymore

The other day on Twitter I was stunned to see how many dumb straight people there are out there. There was a Tweet about Pete Davidson. Someone allegedly said that Davidson is gay and has AIDS. And you should have seen the homophobic, anti-gay Tweets come out. And the dumb Tweets about “AIDS” and how clueless these straights can be.

First, there’s no shame in being gay. Pay attention, straight people. Calling someone gay now is NOT a pejorative. You’re not ashamed to be a straight, and we’re not ashamed to be gay.

Second, no one gets AIDS anymore. They get HIV and it’s a chronic illness, not a death sentence. Millions of people who are HIV poz are taking medications and living full and happy lives.

Third, there is no shame in having HIV. Just like there’s no shame in any of the diseases everyone gets. And you should all know this by now.

So the next time you see something about gay people or HIV, now you know. You don’t have to look stupid anymore.

On Amazon

Stepbrothers in the Attic

On Amazon

Reader Reviews: This is the first of its kind not only a gay retelling of Flowers in the Attic but the first of any kind of retelling of any of the V.C. Andrews books. Usually, two fears strike for fans of any book that is going to get a new twist.