Oh, you will need a lot of red and a lot of glitter to stand out at this year's "The Devil Wears Red! Atlanta Red Dress Party" to benefit Positive Impact, a non-profit serving those with HIV/AIDS.
On tap for the party taking place Saturday at Jungle Atlanta is host Chandler Bearden and flying in all the way from Portland, Ore., Sister Spinna DeVinyl, aka DJ Harmonix, to provide the beats. Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets are $10.
We are all tired of hearing about sequestration. The focus on numbers allows us to forget that these budget cuts are a real life or death issue for people with HIV.
They hurt people like M., an unemployed 45-year-old African-American mother of three, who learned that she had HIV when her ex-husband admitted to her that he was infected before they divorced. She waited six months and experienced suicidal thoughts before seeking medical and mental health care. Her life now depends on federally funded services that may soon be in short supply.
The 5 percent budget cut resulting from the federal sequester process translates into more people infected with HIV, more people whose health will deteriorate from HIV to AIDS, and more who will die from AIDS.
The list of drugs David Bedsole has abused reads like a greatest hits of the gay club scene: Ecstasy, GHB and crystal meth.
Bedsole, age 50, says drugs became a problem for him not even three years ago, in August 2010, but it didn’t take long before his life came apart.
“Meth brought me to my knees,” he admits.
For James Carmichael, age 42 and also gay, the struggle with substance abuse began much earlier, at only 17. After abusing heroin, cocaine and crack, he hit rock bottom.