Friendship!

It was just like yesterday when I was 21 years old. There was a club on 10th Street in Mcallen, Texas, where everyone used to hang out. This was my first experience as an LGBTQ person. I'm going to be as honest as I can.

I have always known what my sexuality was. I was more scared of society because it was them that didn't accept other communities. Times have grown, but we are still not there yet. I meet some good friends in this bar.

Because I was still in high school during this time, I couldn't go out a lot. I was 21 and still trying to finish my education. Mondays were those days. The beer and mix drinks were a dollar all night; it was awesome in those days.

During this time, I didn't have a lot of LGBTQ friends; I was just starting to blossom. As a kid, a person is just starting to find out who they are. I remember all my friends would go to the club sober and leave drunk. My best friend was a minor during this time, but she would come out as drunk as she could be.

My neighbor was the one who introduced me to 10th Ave. I'm so glad he did because it ended up being the best club ever in the RGV. I was so used to going to straight bars all the time that I wanted to feel at home. I wanted to feel free and just be myself and Tenth Avenue, and that is where it ended up happening to me.

One day I ran into a classmate from elementary school, and he asked me if I was scared. I just started to laugh. I said no; I was just in shock at seeing him there. We always knew that he was gay, but he never told any of us that he was gay. I never told anyone in my high school years either. I came out at the age of 21 to both friends and family.

My friend that I saw on Tenth Avenue ended up passing away from HIV. He was full of life and had a lot of smiles. We all miss him to this day, but it woke me up to the fact to the fact that HIV is real, and I hope everyone believes in HIV. If you're going to be sexually active, use protection because Aids doesn't discriminate against any race.

Was there any prostitution or drugs in the bars? I'm pretty sure there was, but I was never into any of that. Just because I have friends who do drugs doesn't mean that we all do drugs. During that time, I'm pretty sure that nobody was thinking of dying, overdosing, or cancer. We all just wanted to party and party hard.

I wanted to meet as many people as I could. These times will never come back to my generation, but all we have are memories, and good memories they are.

I leave you with a message. Make sure that you enjoy life with your friends, because one day you or they will no longer be on earth. As long as you are alive, smile and dance, and make sure you are the most beautiful individual that you can be.

Hugs and Love!!!

Story By: Britney J Torres