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Early survivor of HIV-AIDS continues to inspire decades later

Michael Shugert spoke openly about being gay, HIV, and more throughout his life
David Manoucheri
Special Projects Producer
Early survivor of HIV-AIDS continues to inspire decades later

Michael Shugert spoke openly about being gay, HIV, and more throughout his life

EARLY SURVIVOR OF HIV. I PLAY PIANO BY EAR, AND I DO PIANO THERAPY AND HOSPITALS. AND DINURG COVID I HAD A SERIES OF PIANO CONCERTS MYIN DRIVEWAY FOR THE NEIGHBORS FIVE O’CLOCK ON A SUNDAY TO GET PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE NATIONAL NEWS. MICHAEL SHUGART LOVES MUSIC AND AS A CHILD LRNEAO T PLAY PIANO BY EAR IT HELPED HIM ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES THROUGH THE PAIN AND THE TRAUMA. IS A TORMEEDNT KID AS A TEEN AND BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE PICKING ON ME. AND I DIDN’T KNOW WHY I ALWAYS KNEW I WAS DIFFERENT, BUT I DIDN’T HAVE A LABEL FOR IT SUGAR GREW UP IN AN ERA WHEN BEING A GAY MAN HAD ALL KINDS OF LABELS MANY OF THEM DEROGATORY EVEN HARDER. HE WAS A GAY MAN IN THES U AIR FORCE BEING A MEDIC IN THE VIETNAMAR W WAS TOUGH FOR ANYON E SERVING AS A GAY MAN LONG BEFORE DON’T ASK DON’T TELLAS W A MILITARY POLICY WAS EVEN HARDER AND I’M NOT SAYING POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS GNGOI TO PULL EVERYBODY THROUGH BUITT I THINK CAN HELP. AND IT’S ALWAYS BEEN EASIER FOR ME TO GO DOWN THAT ROAD TNHA TO BE NEGATIVE ABOUT ADVERSITIES THAT HAVE BEEN PUT IN FRONT OF ME AND THOSE ADVERSITIES WE’RE NOT FMRO SERVING IN THE MILITARY. THE HARDEST WAS YET TO COME IN THE 1980S SHUGART FELL ILL WITH A BRAND NEW DISEASE. THEAD B NEWS IS YOU’VE TESTED POSITIVE FORAY G RELATED IMMUTY DNIEFICIENCY, WHICH WAS A PRECURSOR TO HIV AND AIDS AND YOU WILL BE DEAD. A YEAR I SHARED IT WITH. THREE OR FOUR OF MY BEST FRIENDS I HELD OUT FOR A FEW MONTHS BEFORE TELLING MY FAMILY. BECAUSE I KNEW THEY WOULD BE DEVASTATED BUTAR F FROM GIVING UP SARUG FOUGHT FOUGHT FOR HIS COMMUNITY TALKING TO KIDS IN SCHOOLS ALL THROUGHOUT SAN FRANCISCO ABOUT BNGEI GAY ABOUT HAVING HIV APPEARING IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL IN 1099 TALNGKI ABOUT TEACHING ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY IN SCHOOLS DIFFUSING VIOLENCE BY BREAKING DOWNHE T STEREOTYPES THEY SAID WELL Y,OU KNOW MY COUSIN’S GAY OR MY BROTHER’S GAY AND I NEVER THOUGHT HOW THATOW H BULLYING THEM MIGHT AFFECT THEM. BUT NOW I DO. ALL THE WHILE FIGHTING THE DISEASE TAKING HANDFULS OF MEDICATION MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY WHEN I SAID I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG, SIR. I’M NOT GOING TO GIVE IN TO THIS DISEASE AND I NEVER DID. I ALWAYS HAD A POSITIVE ATTITUDE SUGAR CONTINUED TO FIGHT EVENTUALLY MEETING HIS HUSBAND AS HE HAD EVEN THE LOWEST OF TIMES. THIS WAS OUR WEDDING DAY. WE MET IN A BAR IN SAN FRANCISCO. HE WAS 19 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME AND WAS A SHAMAN A VERY INTERESTING MAN WHY HE WOULD HE WANT TO LIVE WITH SOMEBODY SO FLAWED. AND HE SAID HONEY. WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER. WE’RE GONNA FIGHT THIS AND FIGHT. HE DID MOVING TO SACRAMENTO SUGAR BECAME A CATERER TAKING HIS POSITEIV ATTITUDE TO ANOTHER MEDIUM FOOD WITH THE SUPPORT OF HIS PARTNER. I LEIK TO DO REALLY INTERESTING INNOVATIVE FOOD MY LATE HUSBAND USED TO LAUGH ALL THE TIME WHEN I SAID, I CAN’T STAND PEDESTRIAN FOOD. HE SAID PEDESTRIAN IS THAT SOMEBODY CROSSING A CROSSWALK AND I SAID NO, IT’S IT’S NORMAL PREDICTABLE FOOD SUGAR IT SAYS HI S LATE HUSBAND HIS PARTNER IN ALL THINGS PASSED AWAY FROM CAERNC OF THE TONGUE AND LUNGS AND I MISS HIM. LIKE CRAZY, BUT HIS SPITRI IS EVER PRESENT AROUND HERE. EVER PRESENT SHUGART STRUGGLE DIDN’TND E THERE. HE’S A TWO-TIME CANCER SURVIVOR HIMSF,EL BUT HIS SPIRIT REMAINS BRIGHT. HE FOUND LOVE AGAIN SKIEENG SOCELA WORKING WITH HIS PARTNER IN THE YARD ENJOYING THE FREEDOM OF WRITING THEIR MOTORCYCLES TOGETHER. MUSIC STILL EVER PRESENT IN HIS LIFE. HE BEGAN PLAYING CONCERTS FOR HIS NEIGHBORS DURING THEAN PDEM. AND KNOWING THAT HIS LIFE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN BROKE DOWN STEREOTYPES EDUCATED AND CHANGED THE LIVES OF ETH KSID WHO HURT HIM SPEAK AND TOUCH THE LIVES OF EVERYONE AROUND HIM. I’VE COME THIS FAR. IT’S I I STILL HAVE AEW F YEARS AHEAD OF ME. HOPEFULLYT A LEAST 20 OR SO. I’M 70 N AOWND I’VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT. I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT. BUT I HAVE M
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Early survivor of HIV-AIDS continues to inspire decades later

Michael Shugert spoke openly about being gay, HIV, and more throughout his life
David Manoucheri
Special Projects Producer
Michael Shugert loves music. As a child, he learned to play piano by ear. "I do piano therapy and hospitals," Shugert said as he sat behind the 88 keys performing a lilting rendition of "Your Song" by Elton John and Bernie Taupin."And during COVID I had a series of piano concerts in my driveway for the neighbors. 5 o'clock on a Sunday to get people away from the national news," he said.Music helped the Sacramento man all through his life; the tough times, the pain and the trauma."I was a tormented kid as a teen," Shugert said. "Because people were picking on me and I didn't know why I always knew I was different, but I didn't have a label for it."Shugert grew up in an era when being a gay man had all kinds of labels, many of them derogatory. Even harder was being a gay man in the U.S. Air Force. Working as a medic in the Vietnam War would have been tough for anyone. Serving as a gay man, long before "don't ask, don't tell" was a military policy was even harder."I'm not saying a positive attitude is gonna pull everybody through," Shugert said. "But it, I think can help. And it's always been easier for me to go down that road than to be negative about adversities that have been put in front of me."Those adversities were not from serving in the military. The hardest battles for him were yet to come. In the early 1980s, Shugert fell ill, and the disease was new."The bad news is you've tested positive for gay-related immune different deficiency, which was a precursor to HIV and AIDS," Shugert said recounting the name doctors rolled off for his disease. "And you will be dead in a year ... I shared it with three or four of my best friends. I held out for a few months before telling my family because I knew they would be devastated."Yet far from giving up, Shugert fought. He fought for his community, talking to kids in schools all throughout San Francisco about being gay; about having HIV. He appeared in the Wall Street Journal in 1990 talking about teaching about homosexuality in schools.Shugert diffused violence by breaking down the stereotypes. He recounted his experience talking with school kids, adding, "I never thought how that — how bullying — might affect them. But now I do." He did all this while still fighting the disease. He would take handfuls of medication a day, some so new and experimental he said the medication itself nearly killed him. Yet even then, he refused to give in, saying, "I will prove you wrong, sir. I'm not going to give into this disease. And I never did. I always had a positive attitude and took really good care of myself."As he fought, Shugert found love, eventually meeting his husband. He said they met at a bar in San Francisco, a man who was 19 years younger than himself, describing him as a "very interesting man.""Why would he want to love somebody so flawed? And he said, 'Honey, we're in this together. We're going to fight this,'" Shugert said.Fight he did.Moving to Sacramento, Shugert became a caterer, taking his positive attitude to another medium — food — with the support of his partner. However, his husband died from cancer of the tongue and lungs. "I miss him like crazy. His spirit is ever-present around here, ever-present," Shugert said.The struggles didn't end there. Shugert is a two-time cancer survivor himself, but his spirit remains bright. He found love again, seeking solace working with his partner in the yard and finding joy in the freedom of riding motorcycles together.Looking back, he knows he spent his life as an openly gay man breaking down stereotypes, educating and changing the lives of the kids who heard him speak, touching the lives of everyone around him."I've come this far," Shugert said. "I still have a few years ahead of me. Hopefully at least 20 or so. I'm 70 now. And I've been through a lot. I've accomplished a lot, but I have more to do."More to do even as he has left others behind. From 1985 to 1995 Shugert lost 38 friends to AIDS, including a partner. He is one of only two survivors from a support group of 18.

Michael Shugert loves music. As a child, he learned to play piano by ear.

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"I do piano therapy and hospitals," Shugert said as he sat behind the 88 keys performing a lilting rendition of "Your Song" by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

"And during COVID I had a series of piano concerts in my driveway for the neighbors. 5 o'clock on a Sunday to get people away from the national news," he said.

Music helped the Sacramento man all through his life; the tough times, the pain and the trauma.

"I was a tormented kid as a teen," Shugert said. "Because people were picking on me and I didn't know why I always knew I was different, but I didn't have a label for it."

Shugert grew up in an era when being a gay man had all kinds of labels, many of them derogatory. Even harder was being a gay man in the U.S. Air Force. Working as a medic in the Vietnam War would have been tough for anyone. Serving as a gay man, long before "don't ask, don't tell" was a military policy was even harder.

"I'm not saying a positive attitude is gonna pull everybody through," Shugert said. "But it, I think can help. And it's always been easier for me to go down that road than to be negative about adversities that have been put in front of me."

Those adversities were not from serving in the military. The hardest battles for him were yet to come. In the early 1980s, Shugert fell ill, and the disease was new.

"The bad news is you've tested positive for gay-related immune different deficiency, which was a precursor to HIV and AIDS," Shugert said recounting the name doctors rolled off for his disease. "And you will be dead in a year ... I shared it with three or four of my best friends. I held out for a few months before telling my family because I knew they would be devastated."

Yet far from giving up, Shugert fought. He fought for his community, talking to kids in schools all throughout San Francisco about being gay; about having HIV. He appeared in the Wall Street Journal in 1990 talking about teaching about homosexuality in schools.

Shugert diffused violence by breaking down the stereotypes. He recounted his experience talking with school kids, adding, "I never thought how that — how bullying — might affect them. But now I do."

He did all this while still fighting the disease. He would take handfuls of medication a day, some so new and experimental he said the medication itself nearly killed him. Yet even then, he refused to give in, saying, "I will prove you wrong, sir. I'm not going to give into this disease. And I never did. I always had a positive attitude and took really good care of myself."

As he fought, Shugert found love, eventually meeting his husband. He said they met at a bar in San Francisco, a man who was 19 years younger than himself, describing him as a "very interesting man."

"Why would he want to love somebody so flawed? And he said, 'Honey, we're in this together. We're going to fight this,'" Shugert said.

Fight he did.

Moving to Sacramento, Shugert became a caterer, taking his positive attitude to another medium — food — with the support of his partner.

However, his husband died from cancer of the tongue and lungs.

"I miss him like crazy. His spirit is ever-present around here, ever-present," Shugert said.

The struggles didn't end there. Shugert is a two-time cancer survivor himself, but his spirit remains bright. He found love again, seeking solace working with his partner in the yard and finding joy in the freedom of riding motorcycles together.

Looking back, he knows he spent his life as an openly gay man breaking down stereotypes, educating and changing the lives of the kids who heard him speak, touching the lives of everyone around him.

"I've come this far," Shugert said. "I still have a few years ahead of me. Hopefully at least 20 or so. I'm 70 now. And I've been through a lot. I've accomplished a lot, but I have more to do."

More to do even as he has left others behind. From 1985 to 1995 Shugert lost 38 friends to AIDS, including a partner. He is one of only two survivors from a support group of 18.