Former POZ contributor Thomas Morgan, a highly regarded, openly HIV-positive writer and editor who worked for many years at the New York Times and became president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), died December 24 at the age of 56.
An NABJ statement released that day listed the cause as a heart attack, which a Black AIDS Institute statement said was AIDS-related. Morgan, who was openly gay, had lived with HIV for 20 years. Having retired from the New York Times in 1994, primarily to focus on his health, he had become a tireless AIDS advocate, inspiring and supporting many other gay and HIV-positive journalists. Morgan showed them that writing and editing could be a tool for self-empowerment and social change. He sat on many prominent boards, including that of the pioneering New York City-based AIDS service Organization Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC).
“He was … becoming a great influence on people living with HIV/AIDS,” said former NABJ President Sidmel Estes-Sumpter. “He won the battle for so many years. He was still living a wonderful life and proving that people can live with the disease and have an active life.”
Donations in Morgan’s honor can be sent to the Gay Men's Health Crisis (gmhc.org) and the New York Times’s Thomas Morgan III Scholarship Fund (nytimes.com).
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
