Out gay Massachusetts State Representative Carl Sciortino (above, right), who made headlines last November in an ad in which he came out to his Tea Party father as a Massachusetts liberal one month after marrying his partner Pem Brown, announced he's resigning from his office in the state's 34th Middlesex District.
Sciortino said he's HIV-positive, and plans to lead Massachusetts' AIDS Action Committee:
“As a gay man living with HIV, I am honored to lead one of the country's oldest and most effective organizations in the battle against this disease which has raged on over 30 years,” said Sciortino. “My goal for AIDS Action in the years ahead is simple: continue the work that has resulted in lowering the rate of new HIV diagnoses in Massachusetts; provide the multitude of services needed to keep those living with HIV/AIDS connected with health care providers; and continue the public conversation about HIV needed to reduce the stigma that is still so closely associated with this disease.”
