Josh, I have watched you in action for a long time, now, and I greatly admire what you do.

You are not banned here. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

I do understand the need to re-energize.

I do not know what a nah nah is.

I work with young boys — most people would dismiss them as simply hustlers — but they are more than that. They’re still kids.

All of them have HIV, and the problems are enormous.

On meds. Off meds. On meds. Off meds. Survival sex and homelessness are just two of the issues they struggle with.

There are a hundred others.

Addiction.

Sex work is a choice. An adult choice. They are not adults.

As we all know, the suicide rate of the Hard to Reach is sky high. We are now pushing two million homeless kids in the US. 40% of them are GLBTQ. That’s a lot of kids.

All the issues are connected.

I want my voice — I cannot speak for anyone else — to be militant. Because the issues are so immediately compelling.

I do not believe there will be either a cure, a vaccine, or an AIDS-Free Generation. I feel lied to with the hope of a “cure” always right around the corner. One more carrot. One more stick.

People are still dying.

How can I celebrate death? It’s an honest question.

I am told time after time after time by these boys: “I would be better off dead.”

All I do is listen.

But I have reached the point where I now think maybe they’re right.

I think what I celebrate is the end of pain.

The title of this thing I’ve been writing — JUST BEFORE THE CURE — is purposefully disingenuous. There isn’t something before a thing that does not exist. I want it to be provocative.