Thank you for joining me in this cause!
For my entire adult life, AIDS has been like a huge black cloud hovering over the world. So many wonderful people have been taken from us way too soon. Now we still have all the same dangers and we have the addition of complacency. It is important that we do not take our eye off the ball, that we keep helping those affected and to keep others from being affected.
On the personal side, I have been living for over 2 decades as a person with HIV. In those years, I have fallen in love with the worlds greatest man and after 19 years together we were able to marry, I have seen the world as a tourist, I have had a great career with all the ups and downs that come with a commission based job, I have started a new company with the most inspiring artists I have ever known, I have had artistic dreams come true (having songs I co-wrote in 2 movies), I have made my Grandmother proud (one of the most important goals I have ever had), I have participated in the greatest adult relationships with my siblings and I have been blessed with the best cirlce of friends anybody could ever hope for. What I have not done is forget that I am very lucky; lucky because of all those things I just mentioned and lucky because the meds are working for me. I NEVER forget that there are so many people that still feel all alone in their battle for life, so many people that the meds do not work for and so many people that are being infected every day.
I have, for many years wanted to do the ride in honor of many friends lost. I have also wanted to do the ride for myself, my health and for my sense of self worth. In 2017 I finally did the ride for the first time...I learned so much about the true nature of giving. I can and will work hard for all the people I don't know who's lives are being affected everyday by HIV, for all those people I don't know that have never been given the chances and blessings that I have been given and for all those families that I hope never have to know the horrors that come along with HIV/AIDS. Last year was the 25th year of the ride, when I went to orientaion day they were asking "who is a new rider" 'who is second year, third year rider"....on up to 25. When they got to 25 my heart broke. for one thing, it meant that these people (and there were a number of them) had been riding for as long as I have been positive, but also for the fact that all these years later, we are still dealing with this evil bug. I decided right then that until there is no reason for this ride, I will be involved, I will fight for every cent and I will proudly proclaim that me and everybody I know will stand strong against this damn thing.
June 2-9 over 3,000 Cyclists, Roadies and Virtual Cyclists will be participating in AIDS/LifeCycle, a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds for the life-saving services offered by San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Again, for the 3rd time I will be one of them!
The services provided as a result of this event mean the world to those who receive them, and your support means the world to me.
We’re working together to make HIV/AIDS a thing of the past. Will you support me by making a donation today?