Divine Light

Finding Magic in the Dark Overcoming past addiction and health issues at LGBTQ Home for Hope in the Dark i

During a night out, Joshua Rembert recognized the man he had contracted HIV from several years before.The older man gave a snicker from across the bar and walked away. As a gay adolescent growing up in the Bronx, New York, Rembert struggled in an environment where his sexual orientation was not tolerated. He became sexually active in his early teens, often with older men who exploited his vulnerability and inexperience.Though he knew he was gay from a young age, he came out to his family at 17 years old. His parents responded with criticism and judgment. “I don’t think my parents understood the damage that happened when they didn’t try to understand what I was going through,” Rembert says. i i , i l . l i l . l i i , , l i i i l i i l . ll i i i l , i l l i i l ili i i . , i il l . i i i i i j . ’ i i ’ i

,

.

“I started looking for approval in other places because I couldn’t get it from my family.” -Joshua Rembert client at LGBTQ Home for Hope approval in other places from my family.”

54