Slightly Delayed

So here it is, my big 'Welcome to HomoChic' blog post, and it's only about two weeks late. Which isn't entirely my fault. I had my wisdom teeth pulled out (which is a fucking brutal experience, but honestly not as bad as i had pictured it/ everyone had warned me it was gonna be.), and i've been helping to plan for the big HomoChic/Burning Marys Pride fund raiser, and i was camping in Mojave with some friends, and it's been really hot, and Mercury has been in retrograde, and, and, and... i've had a serious case of writer's block.

When Jacob and Leo invited me to be the 'Cultural Journalist' for HomoChic.com i was crazy-excited. Politics is my passion and i've been needing a project for a while now. Something more constructive then arguing with my parents about whether or not Barack Obama is a Secret Muslim (he's not).

But every time i sat down to write this entry i immediately hit a brick wall. My first several tries were flat, reductive, tired. they looked and read just like every other blog out there. I started to really question myself; "Who the fuck am I that anyone would even care what i have to say? What do i have to offer? And why am i wearing this shirt? fuck this is an ugly shirt." But just as i was about to fix up a self-pity cocktail of vodka and quaaludes a voice spoke to me, Obi-wan like from the aether, "Shut the fuck up Brenden and stop being such a little bitch. Just tell the people who you are and why you are here. and stop waisting every bodies god damn time."

So, Hi... My name is Brenden. I am a 27 year old man living in San Francisco with my two boyfriends and our awesome roommate. I'm HIV positive, and have been for two and a half years. I write. I read. I dance. I throw parties. And i feel exceptionally privileged to be a member of HomoChic with Allan, Jacob, and Leo.

Not only are each of them truly talented and creative artists, with long sexy careers ahead of them. But they are kindred spirits with whom i share a set of values, and a point of view; That we are the inheritors of a culture that reaches back through luminaries like Harvey Milk, and Gore Vidal, past Oscar Wilde and all the way to Alexander the Great. That our legacy and our community are being sold out by the current generation of gay leaders who want us to assimilate and turn our gay communities into glorified strip malls and tourist attractions. That HIV is not an end to life nor a triffle to be ignored and dismissed, but rather a responsibility to one's self and community. That sex and sexuality are nothing to fear or be ashamed of, but something to celebrate and share. That a change is coming, and the time to prepare is now.