REBUILT +

the chairpersons of the plwh committee of denver met the other day to discuss the resurrection of that committee. with the exception of the last couple of months, the committee has been dormant and pretty much disbanded. and so it is our current task to take this dormant thing and try to make it breathe again.

ergo - rebuilt+ (strengthened, fortified, and built to last!)

we have run into difficulty stirring any interest in the committee in its current incarnation and have decided to sponsor a couple of social/educational functions in direct response to this situation. the first of which is to be a panel discussion evening the week of pride with a little music and a focus on pride plus - which entails being out about one's hiv status and how that can lead to personal freedom and increased mental and physical health. one of the major downsides of living as a gay man in denver is the lack of conversation about hiv status. it's really creepy, actually. it is the white elephant in the room, from our perspectives, and it lends itself to poor decision making. at least uninformed decision making. and it minimizes so many the battles fought before us as well as the losses felt and diminishes the victories as well. i hope to see some change with this committee in our charge.

to confront this silence (and probably denial, too), we also are going to try to get a column started in the local gay paper. there is really no detectable (pun intended) voice for poz persons in the community currently, and we think that a change in that aspect may lead to some more open discourse among our peers. cuz, at the end of the day, if he doesn't wanna be with me cuz i'm poz, then do i really wanna be with him? and if i think i do, then i gotta ask myself WHY? take me or leave me... that sounds better to me. or at least try to find out who i am and maybe what i'm about, too.

can you hear me now?