Mark S. King

Mark S. King (born December 23, 1960) is an American HIV/AIDS activist, blogger, writer, and actor. King tested positive for HIV in 1985 and became an HIV/AIDS activist soon after. In 2020, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists presented King with the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBTQ Journalist of the Year.[1] He is the creator of the video blog My Fabulous Disease, which won the 2020 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Blog.[2] Out (magazine) has named King to its 2020 Out100 list of LGBTQ+ influencers.[3]

Mark S. King, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2018.

Early life

Mark King, one of six siblings, was born on December 23, 1960, to a military family that settled in Shreveport, Louisiana.[4] He graduated from the University of Houston in 1981.

Career

Following college, King went to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting, and appeared in television commercials. While in California, he also owned and operated a gay fantasy phone service, Telerotic.[5] His memoir, A Place Like This, focuses on his time in Los Angeles during the early years of the AIDS pandemic.

After King tested HIV positive in 1985, he became an AIDS activist, and was the first public relations director for the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation.[6] He later served as director of education and communication for AID Atlanta.[7]

King publishes a video blog, My Fabulous Disease, the subjects of which include HIV and AIDS, LGBTQ+ issues, substance abuse, politics, sex, and his own family. King advocates against HIV criminalization[8] and is a proponent of U=U (undetectable = untransmittable)[9] and the use of PrEP.[10]

In 2020 My Fabulous Disease received the GLAAD Media Award for outstanding blog,[2] its fifth nomination.[11][12][13][14][15] He was named 2020's LGBTQ Journalist of the Year by the Association of LGBTQ Journalists.[1]

King has presented at, and reported on, regional, national, and international HIV/AIDS conferences, including the International AIDS Conference. His coverage of AIDS2016 in Durban, South Africa, was featured in materials for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.[16]

King's articles, blog entries, videos, and commentaries have appeared in Huffpost, TheBody.com, The Advocate, and Poz Magazine, among others. He has been interviewed or cited on NBC,[17] CNN,[18] NPR,[19] Salon,[20] and the Washington Post.[21] He also participated in the original "Let's Stop HIV Together" campaign launched in 2012 by the Centers for Disease Control.[22]

In 2013, HIV Equal included him in a list of thirteen notable HIV/AIDS activists.[6]

Personal life

King tested positive for HIV in 1985, the year testing became publicly available. King is openly gay, and is also open about his addiction to alcohol and drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine.[23] According to HuffPost, he has slept with close to 10,000 men.[24] He has been sober since 2012. In 2015 he married Michael Mitchell.[25]

Selected publications
  • A Place Like This: A Memoir (2007)[26]
  • "Suicide, A Love Story," in Shades of Blue, Amy Ferris, ed. (2015)[27]
  • My Fabulous Disease (video blog)[28]
  • "David Furnish talks Sir Elton, PrEP and U=U at AIDS2018 Confab," Queerty, August 1, 2018 (interviewing David Furnish)[29]
  • "Finding Larry Kramer," Poz Magazine, May 15, 2018 (interviewing Larry Kramer)

Films and television
  • Featured participant, Meth (2006)[30]
  • Producer, actor, Merce, Seasons 1 & 2[31]
  • Contestant, The Price is Right (1980)[32]

Selected conferences
  • 2018 OHTN Research Conference, Toronto, ON (plenary speaker)[33]
  • 2018 United States Conference on AIDS (plenary speaker)[34]
  • 2015 NLGJA Conference (plenary panel moderator)[35]
  • 2013 ADAP Advocacy Association Annual Conference (panelist)[36]

Awards and recognition

References
  1. "NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Announces 2020 Excellence in Journalism Award Recipients - NLGJA". Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. "The #GLAADawards for Outstanding Blog goes to... @MyFabDisease". Twitter. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  3. "This is the 26th Out100". Out. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  4. Needle, Chael. "Mark S. King: Cover Story | A&U Magazine". Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. "Mark S. King / Author at LGBTQ Nation". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  6. "Legendary Activists in the Fight Against HIV :: HIV Equal". hivequal.org. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  7. Sack, Kevin (January 29, 1999). "H.I.V. Peril and Rising Drug Use". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  8. King, Mark S. (September 6, 2010). "Sex while HIV Positive: The New Criminals". My Fabulous Disease. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. "Five Reasons 'HIV Undetectable' Must Equal 'Untransmittable'". marksking.com. December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  10. King, Mark S. (January 27, 2014). "The Sound and Fury of the PrEP Debate (and the Facts to Win It)". My Fabulous Disease. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  11. "GLAAD Media Awards 2015: All the Nominees!". E!. January 21, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  12. "GLAAD Media Awards 2017: Complete List of Nominations". E!. January 31, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  13. "Stories of people living with HIV among 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees". GLAAD. January 18, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  14. "GLAAD Media Awards Nominees #glaadawards". GLAAD. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  15. "The Nominees for the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  16. "The Grandchildren of Elizabeth Taylor are HIV Activists Too". Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. 2016.
  17. "Three decades later, men who survived the 'gay plague' speak out". NBC News. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  18. "Living Positive with HIV: Don Lemon Interviews Mark King of Myfabulousdisease.com". CNN. December 2, 2012.
  19. "Though Not A Death Sentence, HIV/AIDS Still Holds A Powerful Stigma". NPR. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  20. "On World AIDS Day, HIV patients offer a reminder: "We are not a threat to you" | Salon.com". Salon. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  21. Bernstein, Lenny (November 24, 2017). ""I Don't Feel Like I'm a Threat Anymore." New HIV Guidelines are Changing Lives". The Washington Post.
  22. "Let's Stop HIV Together | Individual Campaign Images | Newsroom | NCHHSTP | CDC". cdc.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  23. "Redemption After Meth Addiction". hivplusmag.com. May 14, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  24. Michelson, Noah (July 31, 2020). "This Man Slept With Nearly 10,000 People. Here's What Having All That Sex Taught Him". HuffPost. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  25. "A Day With HIV: Mark S. King". LaurieMedia. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  26. King, Mark S. (2007). A Place Like This: A Memoir. ISBN 978-0595474752.
  27. Ferris, Amy (September 29, 2015). Shades of Blue. ISBN 978-1580055956.
  28. "My Fabulous Disease". marksking.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  29. King, Mark (August 1, 2018). "David Furnish talks Sir Elton, PrEP and U=U at AIDS2018 confab". queerty.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  30. "Meth". Amazon.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  31. "mercetheseries". mercetheseries. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  32. Mark S. King, Winning on The Price is Right 1980, retrieved December 11, 2018
  33. "HIV Endgame 3: Breakthrough Initiatives" (PDF). OHTN Research Conference. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  34. The HIV Survivor Monologues: Emotional Whiplash, retrieved December 13, 2018
  35. "Three Great HIV Story Ideas You Could Write Tomorrow – NLGJA". Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  36. "2013 Annual Conference | Event Panelists". adapadvocacy.org. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  37. "NLGJA Announces 2014 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners and Honorees – NLGJA". Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  38. "NLGJA Announces 2016 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners and Honorees – NLGJA". Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  39. "Atlanta Pride announces 2013 parade grand marshals". Georgia Voice – Gay & LGBT Atlanta News. August 8, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  40. "The POZ 100: 51 to 75". POZ. November 21, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  41. "The POZ 100: L-M". POZ. November 12, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  42. "The Best of It Gets Better". advocate.com. October 4, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
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