HIV: No Longer A Death Sentence
By NOAH C. ZUSS

Rick Mueller, writer, presenter, and advocate, is so full of life one might think he takes pep pills for energy. Turns out the only medication he relies on is the sweetness of life and a host of antiretroviral drugs he needs to keep his T cell count up because he is HIV positive.

The full of energy Mueller is a spark plug; he seems to be constantly on the go. He has traveled the entire world since being diagnosed and cycled in more continents than most Americans have ever visited.

Mueller's mission in life, other than biking across Africa, is to build pride among individuals with HIV. He wants people to know that this community is here and not going away.

He also feels very passionately about helping young people make good choices and has made education his mission.

Rick Mueller

"If I can help educate someone younger than me, gay, straight or whatever about my story and help them make healthier choices and prevent someone from getting the virus it's all worth it," he said.

An avid fitness and exercise fanatic, he is also one of between 33.4 and 46 million people currently living with HIV. But the virus has never slowed him down.

He has lived with this fact since the early 1980s.

Sounding somewhat incredulous he feels lucky to be alive.

"I have been very lucky," he said. "I don't know why I am alive. It makes life more difficult, but it also made me slow down and really start living."

Living in Queens for almost 20 years, Mueller became well-known for his dedication to advocacy work on behalf of the HIV infected. He has been involved with the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Center since it opened in 1996.

To build awareness of the virus he designed and runs a special program called "Pride not Prejudice-HIV and Pride" that visits public schools to teach students about safe sex and HIV education.

"The program deals with issues kids face," he said. "These are matters of safe sex, dating real life scenarios and other sexual issues."

He doesn't sugar coat his message as he feels it's important to expose young people to unedited education.

The 90-minute program, begun in January, has been very successful and brought much attention to Mueller's cause. His story and the program were recently featured on local cable station NY1, and he was named "New Yorker of the week" for his unorthodox approach and passionate advocacy work.

"It's a great program and the kids are fantastic," he said.

Mueller has been officially sanctioned by the Department of Education as a program vendor. The DOE has already bought 10 presentations from him since he began visiting schools in January.

The school presentation begins with his sometimes graphic, always engaging story of coming of age in New York in the late 70s as a gay man. During the presentation to a teenage audience he spares few details of partying at clubs and making what he calls "some bad choices."

Shunning a soft approach Mueller said, "I want to be as open as I can."

The program then moves to a production of a short play using several professional actors.

The play, titled, "A Message From Rhonda" was written by Mueller himself and traces the paths of three high school students that contract HIV within the course of a school year.

The program is designed to build awareness about HIV in all young people and is not aimed at the lesbian, gay or bisexual community. He mentions that the program "deals with homophobia a bit," but is focused on building pride in all communities.

Funding for the program comes from a grant secured by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to the QLGPC, which in turn provides monies to Mueller for the program.

"My life is pretty good now," the middle-aged writer and advocate said while relaxing on a couch in his cozy home.

A feeling of accomplishment washing over him, he said, "My play, I think I am going to win the Pulitzer Prize. I have dreams, there is possibilities. HIV is no longer a death sentence."

Gay Coalition Calls For State Of Emergency

The Emergency Response Coalition is calling on local and State Health Departments to be more proactive and committed to allocating resources to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) communities of color, with the same level of urgency as when the HIV epidemic first hit the white gay community in the early 1980s. The coalitions demands local and state Health departments and elected officials to declare a state of emergency in the MSM of color communities.

ER knows first hand of the terrible impact HIV/AIDS is having in MSM of color communities; however, we also know that HIV infection does not occur in a vacuum. Several factors contribute to an individual's risk and a community's susceptibility and the coalition is urging a collective response.

The Emergency Response Coalition is calling for increased measures to prevent the spread of HIV in minority communities.

In 2006, more than 75 percent of the total new HIV diagnoses in New York City among males were attributed to MSM transmission. Of those new diagnoses, more than 70 percent were among MSM of color. Recent studies show that in 2005, of all adult males living with HIV/AIDS in New York State, 39 percent were Black and 29 percent were Latino, while making up 14.7 percent and 16 percent respectively of the total adult male population in the state. This data compares to white men who were 29 percent of adult males living with HIV/AIDS while making up 59 percent of New York State's population. Asian and Pacific Islander MSM aged 30 and older have seen a 115 percent increase in new HIV diagnoses. According to a report released by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in September 2007, new HIV diagnoses increased by 34 percent among black MSM and Latino MSM in the under age 30 group over the past five years. More than 90 percent of the MSM under age 20 diagnosed with HIV infection in NYC in 2006 were black or Hispanic.

Community-based organizations throughout New York City work tirelessly on innovative interventions, homegrown responses and new methods of community involvement to slow the spread of HIV within MSM of color communities. However, realties such as the dearth of research on MSM of color and young MSM of color in particular, socio-economic realities of lives and the constant shutting down of social spaces frequented by community members undermines HIV prevention and treatment efforts.

This state of emergency must include dedicated resources targeted to MSM of color communities; targeted infrastructure and program technical assistance to MSM of color organizations and programs working in MSM of color communities; and a coordinated and integrated model of HIV prevention that goes beyond just HIV testing.

Finally, the coalition strongly urges Dr. Frieden, New York City Health Commissioner, to take this crisis seriously and ask that he reconsider his refusal to meet with members of the MSM of color communities and to work with us to come up with new approaches to stemming the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the communities.

Emergency Response (E.R.) Coalition is a coalition of over 15 community based organizations and groups across the New York City with a vested interest in ending the epidemic among MSM of color.

For more information call Gary English of New York State Black Gay Network at (212) 828-9393 or e-mail one.english@gmail.com.