A few weeks ago I was flipping through channels, wasting time and trying to avoid going to bed (because that would mean it was almost time for work. Sad face). Anyway, I happened to flip past PBS and saw they were playing a documentary on Chicago's gay and lesbian history. It was very enjoyable (I'm a nerd who likes documentaries), but one segment that stood out was footage showing activist Daniel Sotomayor screaming!
"Living with AIDS in this country is like living through a war
that's happening only for those in the trenches."
"Every time a shell explodes you look around to discover that
you've lost more of your friends. But nobody else notices,
it isn't happening to them."-Vito Russo
Daniel Sotomayor was an open gay politcal cartoonist and AIDS activist. He grew up in the Humboldt Park area of Illinois, and was a victim of abuse and homophobia. After escaping the neighborhood and obtaining a degree from Columbia College, he was finally on his way to reaching his personal and professional goals when his sudden AIDS diagnosis in 1988 changed the direction of his life. He joined ACTUP/Chicago, and through protests with the group and through his political cartoons, confronted Chicago politicians and even other AIDS activists about the inadequate HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs. He died in 1992, just four years after his diagnosis. He was inducted into Chicago's Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame later that same year.
"Daniel's relentless pursuit of the truth helped him to live his life with a consistency of eithic that most of us can only aspire towards. In doning so, he changed forever our definition of 'leader'."-From CGLH
