that, because you were, frankly, quite secretive about it. yeah, i mean, at the time, honestly, i was very honest with all the people that are in my life about my sexuality, if that s what you re asking. but in terms of questioning my hiv status, i was very concerned, and that s not something that you share on tv, or certainly not in 1985, stephen. we re talking about a really very different time than it is now. mmm. and so, for me, it was really, you know, about more of a privacy thing. i mean, when i did speak publicly about my sexuality, i was very happy to do so and i was one of the first of my generation, and certainly in my field, at the time to do so. i mean, we had eltonjohn, who i love and will always love, we had kd lang and we had boy george, and that was about it. it was some years on, after i spoke publicly about my sexuality, that george michael and ellen degeneres, and all these other people.
movement in the united states, following the women s liberation movement, there was an obvious next step was going to be the gay liberation movement, what we would now call lgbtqia, all the queers. there would be a similar kind of thing following that. that was shut down in your country, certainly by thatcher, in my country by reagan, and then, of course, by aids. but, michael, ifind that all so interesting because you talk about it so easily and openly now about, you know, you being queer, as you put it. but in that period, you weren t open about it. and we didn t know that you were going through those fears that you might have contracted aids and that your whole, sort of, life might unravel. we didn t know you were living that, because you were, frankly, quite secretive about it. yeah, i mean, at the time, honestly, i was very honest with all the people that are in my life about my sexuality, if that s what you re asking. but in terms of questioning my hiv status, i was very concer
right. it s sort of more it s a little bit more nimble than trumpism and, therefore, it s very, very, very appealing to broad swaths of the conservative base. you say he legitimizes right-wing conspiracy theories and dodges when you try to nail him down about it. it sounds like he was very slippery in this interview. listen, for somebody who loves to defend his right to ask questions, he sure hates to answer them. and when you asked him if he s been vaccinated, how did he react? he let us this wild cackle and pivoted into how dare you ask me a personal question like that. i said you can ask me whatever you want. he asked me about my hiv status and then asked me about my recent sexual activity, so that was an interesting twist. so he always turns it around, always plays the victim.
don t. the government paid so they have that right and if you disobey you are choosing death. so savor the reasoning here for a moment. it s hard not to think that we have reached a major new precedent, something was happening. as it happens, the federal government spends huge amounts of tax dollars on all diseases, not just covid. cancer, aids, tuberculosis, heart disease, diabetes. each one of these illnesses is its own emergency, kills an awful lot of people and in some cases kills more than covid has. so does the biden administration have the right based on the money they spend fighting these diseases, to her medical information? do they have the right to know your hiv status? can hhs force you to take in about ask for your tb, xanax for anxiety, thorazine for your mania? and while we re at it, where are we letting these peoplewh
you don t. the government paid so they have that right. it s hard not to think we have reached a major new precedent, something new is happening. the federal government spends huge amounts of tax dollars fighting all kinds of diseases not just covid, cancer, aids, heart disease and diabetes. each illness kills people, sometimes far more than covid has. did the biden administration have the right to know your hiv status? can hhs force you to take antibiotics for tb? or zannac for anxiety? why are we letting defective