My mother and I used to be very close before she found out that I was gay. We were inseparable. I was fourteen when she found out. Things started going downhill from there. She didn’t approve and we fought. I’ve been kicked out of the house and I have ended up homeless, living on the streets of Atlanta.

I mean, not to blame her, but I don’t think I would have HIV if I wasn’t kicked out, because I wouldn’t have been doing the things that I was doing in Atlanta. You know, there was some sleeping with people for places to stay, and for money. I did things that weren’t healthy for me, just to survive. I actually knew about safe sex and everything. But, at the time, when you are hungry and you don’t have anything to eat or you don’t want to be sleeping on the subway…I did what I had to do.

As far as the photos that I take, if you look at them you’ll see that they are pictures of me, a lot of them alone, just somewhere, sitting or standing or walking. And that’s because I’m trying to portray someone who is lonely and feels like he doesn’t have anyone.

I am twenty-two years old. I’m from Atlanta, but moved to D.C. five years ago. It’s tough, I’m back to square one now, out on the street again. I don’t like to portray myself as someone who is homeless or doesn’t have a place to go, but that is reality at the moment, and I can’t depend on my best friend and his family to host me forever.

I want to dedicate my life to advocacy work within the LGBTQI community, particularly for youth, so what’s next for me is trying to put my life together and move forward and take care of myself. So I am going to be trying to find new work and continue in my advocacy and doing what I need to do. Just because I’m down-and-out right now doesn’t mean I can’t still put my best foot forward and go out there and advocate for people. I mean, I’ve been unhappy before, I’ve been depressed before, so I know it’s nothing I can’t defeat.