HIV Activist Mark S. King Celebrates 60th Birthday With Elton John

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From left: Mark S. King, David Furnish, and Elton John

HIV survivor, activist, and blogger Mark S. King celebrated his 60th birthday in December with a livestreamed party that featured Elton John singing “Happy Birthday” and raised money for a national network of long-term survivors.

The event, dubbed “Mark S. King’s 60th Birthday Bash,” raised more than $20,000 for the Reunion Project, which provides support and community for those who have lived with HIV for many years.

Those honoring King, the blogger behind My Fabulous Disease, included John and his husband, David Furnish; Broadway star Javier Munoz; Olympian Greg Louganis; Broadway Cares’ Tom Viola; and a “cavalcade of long-term survivors, community leaders, advocates and allies,” according to a post on King’s website. Comedian Charles Sanchez hosted.

The event “was one for the ages,” King wrote. “Or the aged, if you enjoyed the many jokes at my expense about hitting the Big 6-0.”

King, who tested positive for HIV in 1985, has worked for several AIDS service organizations, including the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation, AIDS Survival Project, and AID Atlanta. His blog has received awards from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalist and GLAAD, and he was named to the Out 100 in 2020 by Out magazine, a sister publication of Plus.

Video of the event is below.

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Trudy Ring

Editor

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.