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Acknowledgments Gracias to all the participants who shared their life histories for this project. Their voices are the soul of this book. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to Rafael M. Díaz, who has inspired not only me but a generation of scholars. He was with me throughout this project giving me support, guidance, and a loving friendship. My friends from Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, with whom I started organizing against AIDS, have been with me in this journey as well. They are my compañeros. Marco and Oscar, in particular, were my mentors. They showed me how to navigate life as a gay man. Our work shaped my views on AIDS, public health, and community. I benefited from the terrific work of my research team: Dalia García, Raquel Vazquez, Lisa M. Kuhns, Jorge Sanchez, Antonio Jimenez, Andrea Heckert, Amanda Brown, Lilian Ferrer, Norberto Valbuena, and Dianna Manjarrez.They assisted me in various aspects of this project, from recruiting participants to interviewing, coding, and proofreading numerous versions of the manuscript. Their many contributions were vital to the success of the project. A fellowship from the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) of the University of California at San Francisco helped me plant the seeds for this project. I want to especially acknowledge the mentorship and encouragement of Barbara Marin (then at CAPS) as well as the camaraderie of my fellow visiting professors at CAPS. I learned from all of you and you made my summers in San Francisco feel quite warm. A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH62937) provided me with generous financial resources. The late Louis Steinberg and Angela Pattatucci, from the National Institutes of Health, were key advocates of my work. I was also fortunate to receive a residency at the Bellagio Study Center from the Rockefeller Foundation.The stimulating intellectual discussions, friendship, and the idyllic beauty of Lake Como created an incomparable space to work. Especial credit to Pilar Palacia, director of the center, for making me feel at home and offering me her friendship. Likewise, a fellowship from the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Faculty Scholarship Support Award from the University of Illinois gave me the time and resources to prepare the manuscript for final submission. This book served as an inspiration for my documentary film Tal Como Somos/Just As We Are (distributed by Films for the Humanities & Sciences at http://ffh.films.com). The film was superbly directed by Judith McCray and supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R42 MH071157-02). I am indebted to the subjects in this film for their trust and their courage to share their lives in the big screen. Frances Aparicio and Joan Mary Catapano opened the doors of the University of Illinois Press to this book. Thank you for believing in the value of Compañeros. I also genuinely appreciate the suggestions of the reviewers. Their candid and constructive comments helped me, I believe, better communicate my ideas. I am grateful to Richard Rodriguez for his support and friendship. His comments and wisdom motivated me to revise sections of the book. After our lunch meeting in San Francisco, I ran to my hotel room and wrote the first five pages of the introduction. He helped me get closer to my own voice. Finally, I want to say muchas gracias to my family and friends. There are no words to express adequately my gratitude to my mother and my father. They have always supported my dreams. My mother’s hard work, particularly, allowed me to have the best education. Equally, I am grateful to my immediate family—my partner, Brad Trask, and our son, Cameron. I love you guys. You fill the daily little things of our life with joy. If there is any good in this book, it is because of those who contributed to it. The shortcomings are mine alone. x acknowledgments ...

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