It has always been suggested when William has shared his life experiences to perhaps publish them as a book. We’ve all heard friends say from time to time “you should write a book” when we spark interest and intrigue in a story we share, but we never take it literally.
William started documenting his time working in the heart of London’s gay village, Soho on an online HIV forum. He titled the thread ‘Diary of working in a London gay bar’. This came about when conversations became more frequent around HIV with both colleagues and its customers.
William felt it was worth documenting conversations and encounters he observed in a bid to share what the ‘word’ was on the ground in 2021. This sparked interest given HIV was being compared to the Covid-19 virus/pandemic and the correlation with the AIDS pandemic of the 1980/90’s and the government, if not global response and economical impact.
‘IT’S A SIN’, the drama written and created by Russell T Davies set during the AIDS pandemic of the 1980/90’s in London had not long finished airing in the UK. The series and its dramatic impact on both colleagues and customers was a hot topic in the London Gay bar. Conversations would turn into debates fuelled by anger with the LGBT+ patrons who lived through the AIDS pandemic. Often citing, if not imparting their view that the response to the AIDS pandemic was weak given the virus targeted “gay men” who were not worthy of a global response seen with the current Covid-19 pandemic given views on homosexuality at that time.
There were some fun times too that were worth documenting, such as the “Lemonaids” [sic] malapropism by a colleague and Will’s general dark and caustic sense of humour. Will has faced several unpleasant experiences in his life that he views as instances that allowed him to develop a metaphorical immunity to similar events and experiences he may face in the future.
Will’s outlook on life is very much aligned with that of the legendary comedienne that was Joan Rivers, to “laugh at everything”! When Will received malicious messages relating to his HIV [sic] (“AIDS”) he didn’t find them ‘side splittingly’ funny. But he does confess his first thought was ‘I wonder who sent them’, with his second thought being ‘this turn of events will be fabulous for my online diary’!
When the forum postings came to an end readers also living with HIV shared that they were sad to see this “soap opera” come to an end. Feedback was they enjoyed reading and sometimes “binge reading” my weekly posts which seemed a rollercoaster of emotions for them as they had a glimpse into my daily life working in a gay bar. Several forum members suggested that I document my diary entries into a book. I am not a natural writer, apart from the odd complaint letter, so after seeking some guidance on how to write a book I did what felt natural, wrote it as I’d tell it with no la-di-da language.
I hope I will allow the reader to immerse themselves in my experience, if not walk in my shoes. I have tried to avoid sharing my thoughts and opinions on some situations in a bid to allow the reader to perhaps feel if not determine what I felt at the time, perhaps even come to a different conclusion to the one I experienced.
If anything, I hope my book highlights that people living with HIV (PLWHIV) are not a risk to be around and to share the medical and scientific advances around U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) and bring an end to HIV stigma that as my book highlights still exists today in 2022.
