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Aids Walk Houston

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Eric Turner is one of my favorite people in the world of Underwear. I got a chance to meet him a few times at Magic. He’s very much down to earth and a great guy. He posted this on his Facebook page and I wanted to share it here. He’s raising money for Aids Walk Houston. If you can give money to a great cause, please support Eric in this! Let’s try to get him to raise more money then ever before!

Here is what Eric wrote:

I grew up Mormon, outside Salt Lake City in a wonderful family. They did everything they could to make me feel loved, but ultimately the ‘demons’ that weren’t visible on the outside as I grappled to balance my religion and my identity, controlled how I felt about myself. I contemplated suicide regularly, and thankfully never took the steps to do such a selfish thing. Eventually, I learned to love myself and grew into the man I am today. It was a long and exhausting process.

As a result, I’ve always tried everything I could to help show LGBT youth that the harder they try, they WILL be able to overcome their challenges and make something of themselves. When I lived in Salt Lake City, I partnered with several business partners to create a new, mainstream gay club that gave those at-risk youth a place to feel welcomed and feel at home. It, a gay club, grew to be the largest nightclub in Utah. With that same spirit of unity and togetherness, I’ve teamed with Team LIVE in the Houston AIDS Walk for two purposes:

1- LIVE is a non-profit that was started to fight the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Having been in a serodiscordant relationship, I’ve seen firsthand the struggles that those who are positive face, and I believe as a community we have an obligation to protect our own and end that stigma.

and 2- I’ve partnered with LIVE so that the funds I raise for LIVE with the walk will be used to create a new festival in Houston that will reach out to these at risk groups- LGBT youth and those living with HIV/AIDS, and will create a scholarship fund to help those groups grow through their struggles, learn to love themselves, and eventually give back to our community much in the same way I’m trying to do with this. I believe very strongly in this, but I can’t do it without help. Please, please, please help me- help LIVE- reach out to these groups to make a difference not only in their lives, but to show them that there is more to living a healthy, fulfilling life as an LGBT individual than the party scene.

I believe that individuals are capable of great things, and when you have the power of unity, the community becomes unstoppable in what it can achieve. It’s for this reason that I ask you to support me for the Houston AIDS Walk, and join me in fighting stigma and strengthening the part of the gay community that values people, education, and giving back to the community.

Please visit my fundraising page to read more and click ‘support me’ to help: www.aidshelp.org/participant/erictastic