“I made a decision 26 years ago, I wouldn’t let HIV beat me.”
Steven Rotherforth lives with his partner, in a small town outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally from Great Britain, Steven ended up living in Copenhagen after a stop on his tour performing as a drag queen. Steven has been very involved in the HIV community of Denmark and helped bring the NAMES AIDS quilt project to Denmark.
My brief time with Steven was an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Listening to his stories about touring with his drag queen group throughout Europe and philosophies about life was nothing less than inspirational and captivating.
He started performing as a drag queen by a random coincidence when he was 16 years old. He toured Europe through the 1970-1990’s. He still performs for private parties.
At some point during our conversation, Steven brought out a large scrapbook, filled with photos and posters from his touring years. He pointed out which friends and family members he had lost to AIDS and laughed at small memories that came out of the woodwork from looking at the photos again.
“When I was a teenager, I always looked older and now the opposite has happened. As I get older, I look younger.” Steven has been HIV positive for 26 years. The doctors are impressed with his overall health and say that he has the health of someone much younger than him.
By the end of our conversation, I found that my thoughts were coming at me from all sides and simply said, "Steven, you have lived so much."
He simply replied, "And there is so much life to live still."
A make up brush, now used by Steven while he works on his drawings.
Steven's photo album.
