George Michael Forum

George: …people here are probably taking some small comfort in the fact that, though Freddie died of AIDS, he was publicly bisexual. It's a very, very, dangerous comfort. I received some figures today from, um, AMFAR (прим.скриптера: - The American Foundation for AIDS Research, крупнейшая организация по исследованию ВИЧ и СПИДа) the, eh, American, ah, American side of AIDS, AIDS work really, which said that the conservative estimate for the year 2000 is forty million people on this planet will be infected with HIV. And if you think, or any of you out there really think that those are all going to be gay people or drug addicts, then you're pretty much lining up to be one of those numbers. So please, for God's sake, and for Freddie's sake, and for your own sakes, please be careful, alright?

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John Norris: Were you certain from days before that you wanted to say something on stage?

George: I’m definitely not the first person to put my hand up and say, ‘I would like to be a spokesman’, err, but there are certain things when you just think that it’s obvious they need to be said, err, and no-one else is saying them, that if you have a platform, I suppose, at that particular time, then, er, I just felt like… I was really torn cause I didn’t want to do it in one, in one sense, then in other sense I just felt it was a really strong point that needed to be made, and I do think that as I said, the straight community is gonna be hit really hard by this (?) point, and I think that they should be warned, you know, I-I because I-I d… I think that the majority of, of the media is not really warning them.

John Norris: It’s easy for someone like myself who knows people with AIDS, living with AIDS, to get involved on a real personal basis (George: Mm-hm), but for kids or for people over there who want to go beyond (?) wearing the red ribbon (George: Mm-hm), I mean, is it about direct action, or is it just about educating oneself, do you think?

George: I think it’s, I think there are two things that I would like to say. I think in terms of research, I think in terms of research there’s a lot of money going to research, there’s so much money to be made by whoever it is who finds the vaccine, but that is not the real important thing now, the important thing is one for kids whether they be straight, bi, gay, whatever, to be com… kids and adults, to be completely aware that there’s a definite threat. It’s just because (John Norris: Mm-hm) we can’t see it yet, it’s there and it’s invisible but we will be very aware of it soon (John Norris: Mm-hm). And secondly I would say that they are all gonna come into contact with people who are afflicted by this disease, virus, whatever you wanna call it, and the main thing, err, to be, to er, to prepare them for is, is that, er, experience, tolerance, understanding, er, not being terrified by people who are afflicted with HIV, erm, and preparing themselves er, to deal with it really whether it be loved ones, friends or themselves, you know. It’s, it’s there, and, and we’re not, it doesn’t (?) we’re gonna find anything very quickly, er, in the meantime we just have to care about the people that are suffering now.

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John Norris: As a final note, eh, t-to the video and, and the concert, I think one of the great things about it, and hopefully you agree, is that it wasn't about… Maybe, maybe this conversation we've been having has been more somber than the event itself (Brian May: Yeah), because it was celebratory, it really was (Brian May: Exactly, yeah). And, and I mean while George and David Bowie and… it’s, you know, had things to say, it never got preachy, you didn't want (Brian May: Sure) it to get that way, and it certainly ended on an upbeat note, which I think is what you guys (Brian May: Yeah) all wanted.

Brian May: Yeah, we wanted to celebrate his life in the manner to which he was accustomed, and I think we pulled it off, yeah. Ah, we're immensely proud of the guy and what he stood for. I, I should add also that he wasn't… oh, I’ve said this already, forgive me. But he wasn’t the kind of guy who would spend his life campaigning about AIDS or, or homosexuality or whatever. He was a guy who lived life to the full, and we should do the same.