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October is many things to me, and one of the ones that has a personal connection for me is #LGBTQHistoryMonth 
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Here’s one of my stories: in 1986, a high school dropout who had long hair and an earring got a job at an AIDS hospice, as a receptionist.
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.Here’s one of my stories: in 1986, a high school dropout who had long hair and an earring got a job at an AIDS hospice, as a receptionist.
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This hospice was used as a halfway house for people who had become homeless because of AIDS.
AIDS was still a “new” disease at the time, and our government reeled with inaction as new imperatives came to the fore: AIDS was initially considered a “Gay disease,”
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AIDS was still a “new” disease at the time, and our government reeled with inaction as new imperatives came to the fore: AIDS was initially considered a “Gay disease,”
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a problem that didn’t affect the multitudes, even as information came out that transmission came from any number of venues - blood transfusions, tattoos, needles used in IV drug use.
The stigma became real, as many different people became ill, and then were “cast out”
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The stigma became real, as many different people became ill, and then were “cast out”
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into the street.
The GMHC organized, and was allocated use of a hotel that had been seized for overdue taxes, and converted it into a place where the more fortunate of the unfortunate could receive care and security, without judgment, in their final days
(In 1986, AIDS was
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The GMHC organized, and was allocated use of a hotel that had been seized for overdue taxes, and converted it into a place where the more fortunate of the unfortunate could receive care and security, without judgment, in their final days
(In 1986, AIDS was
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considered a death sentence within 2 years of diagnosis).
It was the first of its kind in the country. I learned so much from meeting so many of the most vulnerable and human among us in the time I spent at Bailey House; I learned, immutably, that we are all just people.
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It was the first of its kind in the country. I learned so much from meeting so many of the most vulnerable and human among us in the time I spent at Bailey House; I learned, immutably, that we are all just people.
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I was just a provincial southern man, and I broke bread with men who were at the Stonewall Riots, and with an ordained minister who was kind and generous, to his deathbed.
I made friends at Bailey House that continue to this day, 34 years later; I made friends to whom I said
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I made friends at Bailey House that continue to this day, 34 years later; I made friends to whom I said
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goodbye before my tenure ended. I learned empathy and humor and humility.
Please Remember #LGBTQHistoryMonth.
PS: it’s known as “Bailey-Holt House,” now, if you’re looking for a worthy cause for donations.
Please Remember #LGBTQHistoryMonth
.PS: it’s known as “Bailey-Holt House,” now, if you’re looking for a worthy cause for donations.
I noted the new name, because when I worked there, it was just “Bailey House.”
I had just moved to NYC with literally only a bass guitar and a duffel bag. The bass guitar didn’t turn into a career, but helping people: I can do.
I had just moved to NYC with literally only a bass guitar and a duffel bag. The bass guitar didn’t turn into a career, but helping people: I can do.
I can’t find any pictures from that time with long hair, but this was from Spring of 1987. Taken at the little cafeteria/bakery next door to Bailey House.
