NLGJA Honors HIV Plus Contributing Editor Mark S. King

Mark S. King, a contributing editor for HIV Plus, won the Excellence in Blogging award from the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the group announced Wednesday.

King won the award for his blog, My Fabulous Disease. King’s blog focuses on HIV and AIDS-related stories, including international conference coverage and features of outstanding people living with HIV.

King began working as an HIV and AIDS advocate in 1984, volunteering at community AIDS agencies, according to the biography on his website. In 1988, three years after testing positive for HIV, King became the first director of public relations for the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation, according to his blog.

No stranger to accolades, King has been featured in numerous publications, and was named one of POZ Magazine’s “POZ 100,” a list of ideas and people that POZ Magazine finds inspiring. In 2013, King was featured on the cover of POZ, and had his essay “The Sound of Stigma” published in the same issue.

King has worked with HIV Plus as an editor and writer, publishing stories like "Why Are People With HIV Treated Like Suicide Bombers?" The story explores the creation of the first "AIDS monster," Gaëtan Dugas, referred to as "Patient Zero" in the book And the Band Played On.

King has also tackled the topic of leftover guilt and shame being used to ridicule a younger generation of gay men. His HIV Plus feature "Let’s Stop Bludgeoning Young Gay Men with Our AIDS Tragedy" takes a look at the use of scare tactics of friends lost to the epidemic to steer a younger generation to more “acceptable behaviors.”

Many of King’s memorable stories focus on fighting and neutralizing the stigma surrounding HIV-positive men. To read more stories by King, click here.