Earlier tonight, I visited the Dupont makeshift memorial to the victims in and show of support for Orlando.pic.twitter.com/5nyuNug6tf
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I thought back to when I was younger. Another memorial. Commemorating other losses. Amidst other connections.pic.twitter.com/jx0sf8kiMr
It was 20 years ago this fall that I, as an undergrad, volunteered for the unfurling of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Mall.
It was one of those moments that youth, at least mine, precluded me from realizing how important it was to me.pic.twitter.com/lJOSf5iioi
We got up, bright and early — my boyfriend and me and many others — to help unfurl the entire Quilt at the time all over the National Mall.
Once we got down there, though, the simplicity of opening up a quilt was replaced by The Quilt and The Mall.pic.twitter.com/n51oXOQVFU
My boyfriend at the time and still one of my best friends, @ATLJono, is kneeling on the far left. I'm next to him.pic.twitter.com/CbAJCXH7BH
It was so powerful, watching the entire National Mall go from green to becoming a literal patchwork quilt.pic.twitter.com/1yyKb1hKu0
Then, at some point, it hit you that this enormity was all loss. That each panel was a person no longer contributing wonder to our world.
You saw the panel for ROGER HORWITZ. The "
PAUL MONETTE" reminded you of the power of gay love in the AIDS era.pic.twitter.com/i6qB9vWAkG
Then, you saw the panel for PAUL MONETTE, and you broke down. ... Even then, gay lovers were buried together.pic.twitter.com/9CjSx2X7Es
VP Al Gore and Tipper Gore came out at one point, to view some of the thousands of lives commemorated with fabric.pic.twitter.com/VJC3tfordR
The Quilt is a beautiful horror. Each panel is created with such love — yet the vast number of them is too much.pic.twitter.com/8gcWDmWLGG
As a memorial, it was unforgettable. I learned so much — about specific people, but also about perspective and scope and how much we lost.
I found comfort in my young love that weekend — even as I thought about the Quilt and those gone.pic.twitter.com/CSN8nkJZbh
This picture is one of my favorites of me and @ATLJono. It is pure earnestness, in all of the best ways.
The romantic relationship is long over between us, but our relationship, our friendship, is stronger than ever.
Jono, an earlier riser than me, was the person who called me to wake me up on Sept. 11, 2001. ... On Sunday, he called me again.
When I got home from the newspaper I was working at in Ohio on Sept. 12, 2001, I called him and we talked until I could sleep.
As Sunday night turned into Monday morning, we talked again.
He has known me more than 20 years, we dated, he took me to my first gay club, he has helped me when I lose my path.
He's probably also the person who taught me that walking around the Dupont Circle fountain with a guy will always be beautiful and precious.
There's a lot floating around in my head tonight—21 years of living as an out gay man—but support and love and relationships are everything.
For 20 years going, support and love and relationships have gotten me through everything.pic.twitter.com/fKXPWWWQtA
I've gone on too long, but it's probably the week for that. Seriously: Talk to each other; support one another; if you can, love others.
That's all I got. Bed time. ... Night, all, and let us be good to one another.pic.twitter.com/SksFLAthAk
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