The past few weeks have felt like the early days of the AIDS crisis on super-fast-forward. I remember when I was 9 or 10 years old I heard about a mysterious “gay cancer” on the news.
Hearing about it stewed anxiety in me, a feeling that — sooner or later — the disease was “coming to get me.” The thought that a deadly virus could simply emerge terrified me.
My ignorance and naivete focused on the fear rather than reality, even as I met early victims of the disease who didn’t yet know they would