By Nadine Dabby, 17, Beverly Hills HS

” When Gilbert was 19, he got drunk and high on PCP. He had sex with his boyfriend for the first time. That was all it took. Two months later, he was plagued with diarrhea, night sweats, sickness and a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. When he discovered that he was HIV positive, Gilbert said,”My first reaction was like ‘Damn!'”
“I was just a mess,” he reflected. He used crystal meth, alcohol and marijuana for more than a year before he finally told someone about his condition.
He has never told his family. He still remembers how they reacted when they found out he was gay when he was 18.
“When [my dad] found out I was gay he beat me. My mom didn’t believe me. My dad goes, ‘There’s the door, and if you open it, there’s your way out.’ ”

Gilbert’s hard-core life hasn’t left him much room to dwell on his condition. After being in a gang, being the driver for drive-by shootings and having his first boyfriend get shot, being HIV positive doesn’t seem that bad, the 23-year-old said.
“To be honest, it’s not that I’m scared, because ever since I started doing bad things I was scared,” Gilbert said.”