AIDS
David's story

What is it like to live with HIV as a young gay man? David dreamed of being a dancer. But he had doubts and felt insecure as he tried to deal with being gay then learned he had HIV.

“There was a lot of pain for me, being 14 years old trying to understand what it means to be gay,” he says, “that it's OK, and that I can be a healthy person.”

David said he sometimes took risks, drinking alcohol and having unprotected sex, just to be close to someone. Then he was offered a chance to dance in Europe. As he packed for the trip, he became sick. After a lot of tests, he found out he had HIV. He was too sick to travel.

David had all kinds of new struggles. It's not easy living with an often isolating, deadly disease.

“We can't put people in categories,” he says. “We've got to break the stigma.” AIDS, David says, doesn’t just happen to “those” people. Everyone is at risk.

“Some days I'm really angry,” he says. “I'm just outraged that, not only do I have to live with this, but sometimes I feel like I have to live with this alone. I'm 21, and I'm kind of stuck in the mind of a 21-year-old sometimes, but my body feels like it's 65 years old some days.”

He had the love and support of his family. But it didn't take away his loneliness all of the time. Being a young person facing death is a lonely, frightening experience.

David worked hard to tell other young people about AIDS. He hoped they would make better choices. Many AIDS organizations asked him to speak on their behalf, because of his courage and wisdom.

He would tell young people: "You have to protect yourself. If you are having sex, make sure you have safer-sex. And if you don't want to have sex, that's your right. It's nobody's business but yours."

David died at the age of 21 from complications of AIDS.

Pedro Zamora also had HIV. He and David often spoke together at conferences. Pedro admired and respected David.

“I got to work with him, and do a lot of things with him,” Pedro said. “He was a great guy. We worked together, and talked on the phone. But in my mind I always thought, 'Next time I go to Washington I'll see him, next time I'll sit down and tell him how I really feel about him.' And, next time didn't come. And that's really tough for me."

“He represented so much to so many young people with HIV. It's sort of like losing someone you could relate to, and losing them to something that could happen to you. And that's really tough."