Shawn Decker on extending the Ryan White CARE Act: “Like Michael Jackson’s career boon after his death, the passing of the CARE Act’s original cosponsor, [Senator] Ted Kennedy, in recent months may have helped move people to move this thing along. Morbid, but in my opinion true.”

Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr. on the Transgender Day of Remembrance 2009:
“Seventy-five percent of the reported murders of trans people world-wide [in the past year] were in Latin America. That statistic alone demonstrates the depth of homophobia and transphobia in Latino culture.”

Richard S. Ferri, PhD, ANP, on his own facial wasting:“All I can see is the crevice, the sharp demarcation of the stigmata that is slashed on the left side of my face. It is starting to happen. I am wasting. My face is sinking in, and I hate it.”

Paul Dalton on the reasoning behind the new DHHS treatment guidelines: “Looking at heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cognitive function, aging—whatever measure you look at—people on [HIV] meds seem to do better than those not on treatment.”

Regan Hofmann on World AIDS Day 2009: “Perhaps the $100,000 question of the day is not ‘Would you still kiss me even though I have HIV?’ but rather ‘Will all of our World AIDS Day activities, whether studious or glam, petite or grand, affect the way the world sees people living with HIV—for the better?’”

Peter Staley on criticism of ACT UP:
“For the record, ACT UP never hurt a fly. We were studiously nonviolent.”