Description:
Whitman-Walker Health board member Frances Reed discusses their experiences learning about safe sex and AIDS. As a queer trans person growing up in Texas in the 1980s, they remember learning that sex was basically death. They reflect on learning about sex in college as a "rapid absorption" of information and sex positivity. Frances sees safe sex as a dicsussion between sexual partners at the beginning of a relationship. They remember first learning about AIDS when two close friends of her family were diagnosed, and they reflect on being personally compelled to fight the disease. They talk about why it's important to view AIDS as an ongoing problem, especially in underserved communities. Frances hopes the next generation will learn their history, understand the loss the LGBTQ+ community has suffered, and see sex not as death but as something that is pleasurable and liberating.
