"I was terrified of coming out of the closet in 1992 because being gay seemed pretty fucking scary thanks to AIDS. Despite all the safe-sex messaging, the idea that being intimate with another man could lead to my death was still a pretty pervasive reality with which I had to grapple.
Yet, remaining in the closet and not being myself was somehow even scarier. So I took a leap and hooked up with another man for the first time that December. Sure enough, the idea that I might have just contracted HIV was terrifying, but along with it came the thrill and excitement of finally getting laid the way I had wanted my entire life. It was beyond liberating."