My Fellow Americans,Hook me up! When's my turn? Don't I get a turn? Can I be part of this American Dream? You know, the one where you meet the love of your life and live happily ever after, more or less?
There are plenty of dating reality shows featuring mostly-white bachelors and bachelorettes searching for love and romance (with other mostly-white bachelors and bachelorettes), but what about someone like me finding love and romance?
Which me? Take your pick. The black me. The gay me. The me that's HIV-positive. Where does someone like me fit into America's romantic dreams? Do I not deserve love, too? Are my hopes
and dreams worthy of America's attention and indeed, support? The kind of support that gets Hollywood to make movies, sitcoms and reality shows starring someone like me, a black gay man living with HIV/AIDS?It's high time Hollywood stopped ignoring the stories and dreams of people living with HIV/AIDS. Our lives are not all doom and gloom. Many people with AIDS are surviving and thriving, thanks to science. Where are our stories? Aren't they dramatic enough? Touching enough? Inspirational enough?
It seems as though America is having a hard time imagining me as someone Americans can fall in love with. Fortunately, they don't have to. I'm going to imagine it for them.
