Who am I?
Behind the masks...
I was reading about Rock Hudson the other day. He was one of the first celebrities to die from AIDS. Apparently, it's now felt unlikely he contracted the disease through having sex.
According to David Bret (who wrote a biography of the late actor) Rock was invariably a 'top' ie the one who penetrates rather than the one who is penetrated. It was more likely he contracted it from blood transfusions (they didn't screen blood at the time) he needed during open-heart surgery.
That's kind of ironic isn't it? He hid his sexuality for decades, even getting married to try and throw the media off the scent out of a fear it would wreck his career. He then contracts, at that time, an illness synonymous with gay men which throws the very light on him that he's sought to avoid.
Perhaps the moral of this tale is that each and every one of us would be better to face up to the realities of who and what we are and stop throwing up smokescreens and masks. We all do it but why do we? What good comes from it? Just looking at the media, I've lost count of the amount of people who hide behind manufactured personas. Let's have some honesty, is it too much to ask? What's wrong with being ourselves? Why is that so hard? I don't know.
Did he have a drug habit, sharing needles? In today's society it is
improper to call them
"Dirty Old Men" still, you cannot judge a book by his screen image.
It would be most ironic if Hudson contracted HIV from a blood transfusion.
It is unfortunate that he was never able to live his life openly.
Thankfully, times are changing and the Christianists seem to be fighting a
losing battle trying to keep LGBT individuals stigmatized. Medical and
mental health experts - at least the legitimate ones - confirm that sexual
orientation is not a choice and eventually science and truth will win out.
