Created by Andrew

When I first heard Queen’s 1991 album “Innuendo” I had a pretty good idea that Freddie Mercury’s lyrics were about AIDS. I was supporting a gay man with AIDS as a volunteer buddy and tracks like “I’m Going Slightly Mad” and “The Show Must Go On” resonated with his lived experiences of AIDS related dementia and life limiting illness. In November that year Freddie died with AIDS shortly after his diagnosis was made public. I had just started to work in a paid role with Body Positive North Midlands, a local self help group for people living with HIV set up and run by local gay men who were HIV positive. A few years later, the Freddy Mercury Phoenix Trust set up in Freddie’s memory gave a substantial grant towards buying a building that established a drop in centre in Hanley. Read the full story in the Staffordshire Buddies Tenth Year Anniversary History Book published in 2003.