And still through the pain I saw the rain – sessions twenty-seven to twenty-nine

HIV and AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s was still a pandemic. It was hard not to become personally and politically motivated with the broader issues that faced gay men as the main protagonists of the illness. Finger pointing and accusations of sexual perversion were commonplace from holier-than-thou heterosexuals who blatantly wagged their fingers, feeling quite invincible and safe (Lee 2015c). The discrimination that gay men with HIV and AIDS faced was horrendous. My clinical work at London Lighthouse had included drug users and heterosexual women but the clients I had worked most closely with were gay men. I could not ignore the personal reasons that had brought me into this work. My beliefs concerning oppres - sion and the resulting problems for people with HIV and AIDS I felt warranted more commitment within the organisation.