Survivor's

On Saturday night at Muffy's party I was compelled to think about those who would not be joining in on the celebrations of a Sydney gay man's 50th party, Muffy or otherwise. As I surveyed the room I hazard a guess there would not be one person there who was not effected by the plague in a very profound manner during the 70's, 80's and 90's. So many who were rich in talent, creativity and glamour perished. I wondered what would have happened if there had been no AIDS, would I have been at a different type of party altogether, though it was full of interesting people, opulent surrounds and sublime food I was left to wonder, are these the survivors of such a terrible tragedy in human kind and if so do they think about how lucky they were to escape what seemed at the height of the epidemic a deathly forgone conclusion for them? Ultimately in all situations like this I sit back and look at people and hope they were not one of the unlucky ones who lost a partner a friend or a relative but I doubt it very much. I once had the audacity to ask Muffy how he had come out unscathed. His response was to me profound in as much as it was also the hand of fate which had swung his way at the time. He happened to be in a monogamous relationship during the peak years when we were unsure of what the world was dealing with. Upon reflection it doesn't really matter now because realistically AIDS does not discriminate, a couple of million heterosexual's have found this fact out the hard way. Though back when it all began, not that long ago, the gay community were being ravaged by a disease which ultimately killed many of them because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and like an accident of any doing this is how in my view so many were taken from us, without doubt through no fault of their own, which makes it all the more tragic.