I remember being in the seventh grade living on Cape Cod in the early 80's, and the fear of AIDS that gripped society at the time. Stigma was a monster in those days, greater than the Boogeyman under your bed, just being perceived as gay meant that you had the deadly disease and thus a danger to all who came in contact with you. I was in middle school in Bourne at the time, and having a deep southern accent didn't make me very popular. I was teased and bullied relentlessly; one of their favorite names they loved to call me was "FarmAIDS". This was the first year of Willie Nelson's Farm Aid benefit concert and they borrowed the term to torment me since, in their minds, everyone who lived in the south grew up on a farm and connecting you with AIDS was effectively the same as calling you gay.
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