Test 2

Please select your preferred language.

請選擇你慣用的語言。

请选择你惯用的语言。

English
中文简体
台灣繁體
香港繁體

登入

记住我

初到 Fridae?

Fridae Mobile

Advertisement
Highlights

More About Us

新闻&特写

« 较新的 | 较旧的 »
20 Jul 2009

Gay, HIV+ New York State Senator Tom Duane's searing 20-min speech

Tom Duane's hair-raising speech at 3am last Friday morning in the New York Senate chamber - in support of a bill that will cap housing costs for people living with HIV/AIDS - has made waves in the blogosphere.

Openly gay and HIV positive New York State Senator Tom Duane delivered a powerful, gripping, sometimes screeching speech on early Friday morning to garner support for his bill that prevents people living with HIV or AIDS and receiving public assistance from having to pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income on shelter costs, rent and utilities. The balance will be paid by public assistance.

Following the speech that was delivered at 3am after the second marathon Senate session in a row, the bill passed by a vote of 52 to 1. The Assembly, however, has yet to approve it.

When Duane was elected in 1998, he became the first openly-gay and first openly HIV-positive member of the Senate.

In his impassioned 20-min speech which got a standing ovation from the floor, the state senator recalled watching “hundreds” of his friends die since the 1980s, and the stigma and discrimination people living with HIV/AIDS had faced and continue to face in the US since HIV/AIDS was first identified in the US.

"Let me take you back to the early eighties. Visiting friends in hospitals. We'd go in. We'd go in one night, in the morning they'd be dead. I'd bring them food. My family, bring them food. My friends bring someone food. But whoever was in bed would be dead before they could eat it.

"We'd leave it - maybe the nurses would take it home. No! They wouldn't eat it! 'Cause it's contaminated. Contaminated! Wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't go into the room. Wearing masks. Gloves! Gowns! Someone gets sick in the afternoon. They'd be dead the next day. Dead! And that went on for months, and then years. Dead! Dead!

"You think if you got sick and your friends were dying that I would sit there and do nothing? No. But that's what happened. That's what happened.”

He also spoke of his personal struggle with HIV. “Every cold. Every virus. Every temperature. I thought I'd be dead, and so did so many people that I knew. Dead! You think you scare me? You think you can make be back off? Nothing scares me."

Veteran AIDS activist and AIDSmeds.com founder, Peter Staley, wrote on his blog about Duane's speech: "All the pent-up rage from what people with AIDS lived through in the 1980’s and early 90’s, and even some of the shit we all live through today, can be heard in Tom’s voice. I’ve always felt we’ve never processed all the pain we went through back then. And we’re all capable of snapping from it - letting it spill out at any moment. There’s a Tom Duane lurking deep down in all of us, waiting to be heard."

In 2001, Duane was the first New York State legislator to introduce a same-sex marriage bill. The current bill, S.4401, is pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee following a vote of 89 to 52 by legislators in May this year.


读者回应

1. 2009-07-20 20:30  
They were terrible times HIV+ or not we all lived with the fear and the stigma just being homosexual... groups like ACT UP were remarkable in their response I remember a young Gay Asian man ACT UP activist here in Australia who mesmerized me with his courage, yes long term survivors of HIV/AIDS who were caught unawares back then do need proper assistance now, every where no doubt, but then is not now and people who go out now and wantonly put them selves and others at risk they are another matter it’s time Gay men pulled back from rampant promiscuity and started being more responsible global citizens, HIV+ Gay men are not the only Gay men doing it tough, the aged the disabled and those ill from other diseases have to stand inline for what ever meager public assistance in available no special Gay groups there for them usually, HIV is a preventable disease…keep your pants on …simple.
2. 2009-07-21 04:39  
I think you have missed the point (aztlan_oz). I think Senator Duane is saying that despite of status, every person is entitled to a normal and dignified existence. It is not about keeping your pants on, it is still perfectly feasible to have a full and healthy relationship even if you are positive, taking due care.
All power to you Senator Duane! My thoughts go out to those that suffer.
回应#3於被作者删除。
4. 2009-07-21 04:50  
Unmistakably American style.
回应#5於被作者删除。
6. 2009-07-21 10:10  
A truly remarkable & almost extinct good human being. I salute him!
God Bless and protect you Senator Tom Duane!
7. 2009-07-22 22:49  
That was evoking. Long live Duane!
8. 2009-07-22 22:50  
Sometimes, all people need is a Tom Duane...to put a mirror on their vainglorious self-righteousness.

9. 2009-07-24 08:54  
Screechy self-serving rant. I'm embarrassed for him.
10. 2009-07-25 00:56  
Very admirable man! Where I come from, openly gay and HIV+ senators are unheard of. So each of us see the same event differently. But let's put some compassion on top of the cruel facts. We don't ask why, we ask how we can make a difference. We need more Tom Duane's here in Asia!
11. 2009-07-25 02:32  
Wow, a truly powerful speech from the heart, no wonder it got an ovation. I agree with you Fipkt, less judgmentalism, more assistance all around.
12. 2009-07-27 04:37  
9. 2009-07-24 08:54
Screechy self-serving rant. I'm embarrassed for him.
____________________________________

Nah, u r doing a fantastic job for yourself..;). Keep ranting.ZZzzz
修改於2009-07-27 04:37:31

请先登入再使用此功能。

Social


请选择新闻及专栏版本

精选个人档案

Now ALL members can view unlimited profiles!

Languages

View this page in a different language:

赞好

合作伙伴

 ILGA Asia - Fridae partner for LGBT rights in Asia IGLHRC - Fridae Partner for LGBT rights in Asia

Advertisement