Steven A. Marquez (1957-1987)
Since my post on National Coming Out Day and Steve Marquez (below) attracted a lot of interest, I felt I ought to post a picture of him.
Rest in peace, Steve.
Steven A. Marquez
Since my post on National Coming Out Day and Steve Marquez (below) attracted a lot of interest, I felt I ought to post a picture of him.
Hi Mark. I love this piece I’ve seen for the first time. I was Steve’s best friend. I took care of him from the time got sick til his dying moments. I’m gay, and I can assure you, he was not. The woman he was living with left him when he was diagnosed, and she passed away in the last 2 years. Steve would never say how he thought he may have become infected, but HIV/ AIDS takes many paths.
If Steve was bi-sexual, he never let on, but my fear was that there was molestation in his Catholic HS, which he cursed to his last breath.
I appreciate the sentiment of the story, it’s just the wrong person to make such an excellent point with.
Thank you for sharing this and for setting me straight. Though it seems I made an inappropriate assumption, the post reflects what has been going through my mind for the past 35 years. The larger point, that having a personal connection makes a difference in how you think about these things, still stands.
I knew Steve when he was a reporter at the St. Pete Times and I was reporting for the Clearwater Sun; he was a better reporter than I, something I can admit at age 67. Like others, I was stunned to hear he died of HIV. I am gay and was telling someone today that I still wear boat shoes and khakis today because I wanted then to have Steve’s preppy aura. I remembered him this year, as I do many years, on World AIDS Day, because his was the first tragic AIDS death of someone I knew, followed by so many more.