My Story...

If someone were to have asked me a few weeks ago, I would have said that Connecticut does not have an AIDS problem...

Unfortunately, I would have been lying. Not only does Connecticut have a rate of AIDS cases per 100,000 people that is much higher than the national average, but one of its largest cities, Bridgeport, has a rate that is nearly three times that of the United States. Connecticut's Hispanic and African American populations are suffering, more women are infected each day, and nothing anyone has done to date has seemed to stop the ballooning numbers of infected intravenous drug users. Although I was once able to maintain illusions of Connecticut as a bubble safe from the spreading epidemic, today's data is irrefutable. AIDS patients are not just Africans or Asians from impoverished third-world countries. They are not just junkies or gay men from large cities. They are members of my state, my county, and my town. They are suffering and dying without the recognition of their neighbors or the necessary help from their communities. Although the state and county, as wholes, do not have a large problem, cities like Bridgeport are facing fatal crises. AIDS has invaded my state and my county and is now threatening my community.