OK. Here’s my #pride #PrideMonth confession. This is dedicated to my high school photojournalism teacher Mark Dixon. 
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As a freshman, I took Mr. Dixon’s photojournalism class. He was patient, kind, and let us listen to hip hop in the dark room. He also had a shrine to Tina Turner on a wall.
#pride#pridemonth (2 of 14)pic.twitter.com/O2Sospc7WnShow this thread
Mr. Dixon didn’t have to say it, but we all knew. He was gay. It was 1988. The AIDS epidemic was growing. #pride #pridemonth (3 of 14)pic.twitter.com/qdyAUGXNUm
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Mr. Dixon assigned me to take a photo of a photo that angered me. I got an image of brothers getting arrested amid the crack epidemic across the country. He said now go find this for real
#pride#pridemonth (4 of 14)pic.twitter.com/nQYO4ZXqVT
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That spring he asked me if I could help him with the annual “Most likely to” awards show. I was to take ticket money. During the night, an angry dude and his mother demanded their money back. A $20 fell on floor. I put it in my pocket
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Mr. Dixon gave me the keys to his office and asked me to put the money up. I did but kept the $20. I used it to buy some Troop shoes I wanted (I think). The next week Mr. Dixon asked to speak with me
#pride#pridemonth (6 of 14)pic.twitter.com/0tnkw3Qkyp
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My locker was by his classroom. I couldn’t avoid him. He took me into his classroom when no one was there and gave me an envelope. Inside was a thank you card. I felt terrible
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The next year Mr. Dixon took leave. He was sick. We heard the rumor: Mr. Dixon had it. But don’t worry. Doctors were working on a cure. No cure came. My shoes were stolen.
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Mr. Dixon died. The yearbooks were late each year I was a student at Eisenhower High School in Houston.
#pride#pridemonth (9 of 14)pic.twitter.com/xqi12lUodg
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Years later, as an intern at the
@AP in New Jersey, my friend Aleena@NYChicana and her sis Norma asked me to help hand out water at the#PrideParade in NYC. I said yes. It was 2002. Someone held a sign: don’t forget about the AIDS victims.#Pride#PrideMonth (10 of 14)Show this thread -
A group at the parade was asking for donations to help homeless
#LGBT teens who were HIV positive and had been abandoned by family. My mom had been briefly abandoned as a baby. I remembered Mr. Dixon. I gave $20#pride#pridemonth (11 of 14)Show this thread -
Ever since that parade in 2002, I quietly donate $20 to an LGBT group during
#PrideMonth in Mr Dixon’s honor. I’m a working journalist now and occasionally my photos appear on the wire.#pride#pridemonth (12 of 14)Show this thread -
This year, on the 50th anniversary of the
#Stonewall uprising, I am happy to donate my $20 to my friends at@nlgja in honor of Mr. Dixon#pride#pridemonth#Stonewall50#joirnalism (13 of 14)pic.twitter.com/gJoPtNjkgn
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The $20 was never mine. Mr. Dixon taught me many lessons. He never knew. I never told anyone.
#RIPMarkDixon#pride#pridemonth ENDpic.twitter.com/ZPmf5LjsPG
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Gail Stockman, 60, left and Beth Black, 58, prepare to marry at a massive wedding in Albuquerque on Aug. 27, 2013. The couple joined dozens in Albuquerque for the wedding after Bernalillo County began issuing same-sex marriage licenses. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
#pridepic.twitter.com/uKxfMz0tt4
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