First Brush with Gay Life

It was 1989 and I was sent by my employer, a pharmaceutical drug company, to the Castro to visit an HIV clinic. We were conducting an expanded access drug trial of a novel antiretroviral drug. I was assigned to direct audits of 100 clinics in the US assisted by 8 other employees, 30 clinics of which I would audit myself.

So, there I was in the Castro, at the very first clinic, waiting, when I noticed a bulletin board covered with cheese cake photos. Hot guys wearing nil to nothing, posing seductively. Tanned, luscious, sweating, tousled hair, hot. Naturally, I stopped to admire the amazing view. Then it hit me; I was the only female in the entire office. That thought turned my world on its head, upside down, inside out. Stunned was the word for it.

It was a turning point in my life; I had met gay lifestyle head on. I guess that analytically I understood that gay men liked men, but I never got that they would enjoy looking at men too. Homer Simpson moment: Doh. In retrospect, I think, geez, these guys have a lot in common with me. We all like dick.