ABSTRACT

When I first met Michael Callen in New York in 1985 he was already one of my heroes! Diagnosed with AIDS in 1982, he played an indispensible role in the establishment of the People With AIDS Coalition, and in 1983 was instrumental in the drafting of the celebrated ‘Denver Principles’—the Founding Statement of the US PWA movement. In 1983 he also co-authored How To Have Sex in an Epidemic, together with his boyfriend Richard Berkowitz and his physician, Dr Joseph Sonnabend. Long before the identification of HIV, this 40-page booklet embodied an approach to AIDS education embodied in the principle of risk reduction, and respect for gay men’s sexual needs. This was the most influential and inspiring model for those of us trying to develop similar initiatives at that very difficult time in the UK.