Michael Gigante, Ph.D.
An epidemic remembered, a community mourned
In the early 1980s, researchers were puzzled by the inexplicable deadly illnesses of gay men in several cities. By the end of the first decade of AIDS, people were coming together in Brattleboro and Windham County to care for one another, physically and emotionally. One psychotherapist who was there looks back on that support and the heartbreaking toll the disease exacted — on survivors, their loved ones, and the people who cared for them.
Michael Gigante, the clinician at the Brattleboro AIDS Project (now the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont) from 1990 to 1992, writes: "During the height of the Covid pandemic, I was reminded of my experiences in a previous epidemic, HIV/AIDS. So I wrote. I wrote a series of vignettes of my very personal experiences of those times."...
‘May I be strong enough to live by this oath, if need be’
Michael Gigante, Ph.D. notes: "This is a piece I wrote after the first Trump election victory. It feels even more relevant today." BRATTLEBORO-I am not a Muslim, but I will register as one, if need be; I am not a Jew, but I will register as one, if need...