Blind Item #7 - The Rape
Leave it in the words of the tipster.
When I was in college over 30 years ago, I became friends with a guy who had been kicked out of his house at a young age because he was gay. To give you an idea of how his family had ostracized and abandoned him, when my friend graduated from high school (where he was valedictorian), his teacher bought him a cake and celebrated his graduation with him. That was it. Only his teacher, her family and him. None of his family was present because they didn’t want to be around him because he was gay.
In college, he was confused and looking for an identity like so many kids do at that age. He was also trying to come to terms with being gay. And even though he was very bright, he later dropped out of college. There were so many traumatizing personal issues he was dealing with, he couldn’t concentrate.
He was a good-looking young man, very photogenic. He started hanging out at a lot of New York City gay clubs. At one of those clubs, he met ___________, the famous photographer, who told my friend he wanted to take photos of him and that would help launch his career as a model. My pal showed these photos to me and his other friends. They were gorgeous. He looked wonderful. We were so excited for him. Soon after, inexplicably, he left NYC and moved out of town, where he drifted from job to job. Then he met someone and for the first time, found stability in his personal life. Unfortunately, during his aimless days, he became careless, stopped using condoms and contracted HIV. Several years ago, he died of cancer that was exacerbated by his being HIV. He was only in his early 50s.
I asked a dear friend of mine, who was very close to him, why our friend left NYC that time when he was so gungho about being a model and it looked like the photographer was going to help him achieve that dream. She told me the photographer had raped our friend and ever since then, every time she read or saw anything related to the photographer, she was filled with rage.
When I was in college over 30 years ago, I became friends with a guy who had been kicked out of his house at a young age because he was gay. To give you an idea of how his family had ostracized and abandoned him, when my friend graduated from high school (where he was valedictorian), his teacher bought him a cake and celebrated his graduation with him. That was it. Only his teacher, her family and him. None of his family was present because they didn’t want to be around him because he was gay.
In college, he was confused and looking for an identity like so many kids do at that age. He was also trying to come to terms with being gay. And even though he was very bright, he later dropped out of college. There were so many traumatizing personal issues he was dealing with, he couldn’t concentrate.
He was a good-looking young man, very photogenic. He started hanging out at a lot of New York City gay clubs. At one of those clubs, he met ___________, the famous photographer, who told my friend he wanted to take photos of him and that would help launch his career as a model. My pal showed these photos to me and his other friends. They were gorgeous. He looked wonderful. We were so excited for him. Soon after, inexplicably, he left NYC and moved out of town, where he drifted from job to job. Then he met someone and for the first time, found stability in his personal life. Unfortunately, during his aimless days, he became careless, stopped using condoms and contracted HIV. Several years ago, he died of cancer that was exacerbated by his being HIV. He was only in his early 50s.
I asked a dear friend of mine, who was very close to him, why our friend left NYC that time when he was so gungho about being a model and it looked like the photographer was going to help him achieve that dream. She told me the photographer had raped our friend and ever since then, every time she read or saw anything related to the photographer, she was filled with rage.
No comments:
Post a Comment