I’ve had AIDS panic. I’ve had that, I guess you say is, unnecessary AIDS panic. We were hoping that people would find it humorous because they could relate to Patrick. At least for me, and with my friends — gay and straight — I’ve had that moment where you think you might have AIDS or an STD, and you get nervous and you go to the doctor and get checked and hopefully everything is fine and it was unnecessary panic. But I’ve been there, and my friends have been there, so I was excited to illuminate that because it’s a conversation that I’ve had. -- Jonathan Groff in Out Magazine
I don't know why this should be an odd predilection for a young gay character whose neuroticism has been pretty well-documented during
Looking's short run. As someone who hit their teens at the height of AIDS panic, the dominant message I got wasn't "don't be slut," or "don't get pregnant," but "sex can kill you." I'm also very interested in Patrick's storyline, as I currently hate sitting on my hard drive, a scrub draft of a novel with a character who's afraid of everything
but AIDS.
