MAKING A DIFFERENCE... MARCH Madness has Begun!

"If you won't be better tomorrow than you were today,

then what do you need tomorrow for?"

Noun

1.

survivor guilt - a deep feeling of guilt often experienced by those who have survived some catastrophe that took the lives of many others; derives in part from a feeling that they did not do enough to save the others who perished and in part from feelings of being unworthy relative to those who died; "survivor guilt was first noted in those who survived the Holocaust"

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

You and I want our lives to matter. We want our lives
to make a real difference - to be of genuine consequence
in the world. We know that there is no satisfaction in
merely going through the motions, even if those motions
make us successful, or even if we have arranged to make
those motions pleasant. We want to know we have made
some impact on the world. In fact, you and I want to
contribute to the quality of life. We want to make the
world work. -Werner Erhard

Life and Death

by Regan Hofmann POZ editor-in-chief

If my doctor had told me I’d live to see the 30th anniversary of AIDS, when I was diagnosed 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed him. At that time, doctor’s waiting rooms were filled with people on the brink of death. All I could think about was how long it would be until I joined them.

When death sideswipes you and takes out the person next to you instead you’re left with a sense of survivor’s guilt. For years I wondered why I got to survive when others did not. Partly, it was luck. It was also because I was diagnosed when certain medicines were available. I had a job and health insurance so I could afford care. And I was diagnosed early, before I was too weak to recover.

"I Never Expected to Live this Long..."

As you know; this year World AIDS Day is the Sunday following Thanksgiving on December 1st, 2002 and we are now into the third decade of this global catastrophe. I recently taped an interview for a World AIDS Day program being produced to air on local cable outlets. Sitting here in the living room/office space of My South Bank HIVe, I looked into the camera after being asked my thoughts and replied: "I Never expected to Live This Long". I've been thinking about that ever since. I have been a Witness since the beginning and a survivor for the last eleven years. After I was tested and diagnosed in 1991, I began writing about my experiences and compiling them under the title: "Coming OUT of Hiding: A Retrospective Journey through AIDS..." . The purpose and goal of this endeavor: The importance of telling such stories was recently addressed by a keynote address given by Mary Fisher during National AIDS Awareness Month (http://www.hivcouncil.org/mary_fisher.htm).


To continue; I've been thinking a lot about that statement in my interview, looking back over my last eleven years and having a hard time coping with My Life with HIV. Today, I finally seem to have emerged from this current Blue Spell and wanted to share these additional thoughts as well as begin compiling them on my web site.


Although we now know that the Virus doesn't discriminate against who it infects anymore, I think that the overriding point that SOCIETY still does is what the theme of Stigma and Discrimination was developed to address. It is that Stigma and Discrimination that continues to present obstacles to an infected persons "Quality of Life" and I fear that the current medical advances and increased longevity have come to sugar coat the reality of Life, and Living, with HIV/AIDS:

"U.S. Supreme Court decision: "Subsequent decisions have held that AIDS is protected as a handicap under law not only because of the physical limitations it imposes, but because the prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the actual physical one.

This is the essence of discrimination - formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits but rather on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics." from the movie "Philadelphia"

"Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself." - Thich Nhat Hanh

THIS IS MY Northern Kentucky-Greater Cincinnati view that "April Love" was designed to Invite the Tri-State into for EARTH-EQUALITY Day WEEKEND...


"REMINDER:One of the important areas that came up in the study performed last year for the timing of this event was of course ELECTION 2012; the LGBT advancement of rights stand to take a step backward if the LGBT does not educate themselves and our allies as to the issues and where candidates stand on overall issues of importance to the LGBT. These marches are to educate and enlighten in this and many other areas. So yes, WE DEMAND FULL FEDERAL EQUALITY and we want 100% KNOWLEDGE OF LGBT ISSUES AND CANDIDATES POSITIONS ON THOSE ISSUES KNOWN TO THE LGBT AND OUR ALLIES and we want 100% REGISTRATION AND ULTIMATE VOTING BY ALL LGBT AND OUR ALLIES. The committee is urging some form of voter registration at the march site, as well as handouts on LGBT issues of importance in this election year! There will be other specific demands for your own individual city/state/province/area/country where your march and non-march events are held; as long as they relate to equality for the LGBT, Basic Human Rights, or other pressing LGBT issues such as bullying, etc., please use these events to include those as well!"


Just had a thought... That would make a great synopsis of my motives in creating the "April Love" Theme here in the Tri-State MSA on The South Bank in the Mosaic known as Northern Kentucky! We were happy to have contributed to the "TriFecta Weekend"! I'm laying low because MARCH MADNESS has begun!Just downloaded a 2nd 30 day free trial of DreamWeaver, my Wish & Dream is to Update www.MWCLTonline.org and www.SouthBankHIVe.com to promote our Affiliation and Support for Worldwide EQUAL Human & Civil Rights.


We'd appreciate Y'Alls Support & Participation for the 2012 International AIDS Candlelight.org Vigil in MAY on the Sunday following Mother's Day. You know she'd want you to ;-)...