We Were Here, directed by David Weismann (2011)

FICTIONAL MOVIES:

Angels in America, various directors (TV miniseries, 2003)

BPM (Beats per Minute), directed by Robin Campillo (2017)

Rent, directed by Chris Columbus (Sony Pictures, 2015)

BOOKS:

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasy on National Themes by Tony Kushner, rev. ed. (New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 2013)

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (New York: Viking, 2018)

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee (New York: Mariner Books, 2018)

The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer (New York: Samuel French, Inc., 1985)

Reports from the Holocaust: The Making of an AIDS Activist by Larry Kramer (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989)

ARTICLES:

“American Woman Who Adopted HIV-Positive Child Tells Parents There Is ‘Nothing to Be Afraid Of,’ ” by Lizzie Dearden. Published September 22, 2014, in The Independent.

“HIV Did Not Stop Me from Having a Biological Child,” by Ben Banks. Published June 25, 2014, in Time.

“I Feel Blessed to Be HIV+ in the Age of PrEP and TasP,” by Jeff Leavell. Published March 7, 2018, in Them.

“Odd Blood: Serodiscordancy, or, Life with an HIV-Positive Partner,” by John Fram. Published March 29, 2012, in The Atlantic.

“Telling JJ: A year after learning she has HIV, an 11-year-old has a breakthrough,” by John Woodrow Cox. Published August 27, 2016, in The Washington Post.

WEBSITES:

AdvocatesForYouth.org

Advocates for Youth is a nonprofit that works with young people and other organizations to champion sexual health and rights. They have a bunch of programs, including ECHO, which trains HIV-positive youth to become leaders in the movement to combat the stigma against HIV/AIDS. They also coordinate National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day, and the hashtag #MyStoryOutLoud, which is an online storytelling project for HIV-positive youth and LGBTQ+ youth of color.

HIV.gov

This is the US government’s HIV-focused website. A good resource for up-to-date facts and figures.

PedAIDS.org

This is the website for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a nonprofit that works to prevent HIV and stop AIDS around the world, specifically in children.

POZ.com

An online magazine for people with or impacted by HIV/AIDS. There are columns and first-person accounts and all kinds of other information. I turned to this website a lot when I was writing my book. It shows how vast the experience of having HIV is and also how different HIV-positive people can be from each other.

UNAIDS.org

This United Nations program is committed to raising awareness and fighting AIDS on a global scale. Its website includes data and resources from around the world.

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Even though Simone is very real to me, she isn’t actually a real person. But all of her great qualities—her determination, perseverance, you name it—are reflected in these activists I drew inspiration from. The five activists included below all have HIV and use their voices to advocate for themselves and others. You can read their work, listen to their talks, or follow them on social media (I recommend doing all three).

ACTIVISTS: