LONGTIME COMPANION

Longtime Companion is a 1989 gay movie which chronicles the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the impact it had on a group of several gay friends. Sean is a scriptwriter, Howard comes from a wealthy family, Paul is a business executive, Fuzzy is a lawyer then Willy and John. They also have a lady friend called Lisa who is Fuzzy's sister. John is hospitalized for pneumonia only to be diagnosed with the new disease which The New York Times calls the 'gay cancer'. Gay cancer was a term used to describe AIDS before research found out what it was because it was first discovered widespread among the gay community in New York. John is the first in the group to die from AIDS complications. Several of the friends continue to fall ill and die from the disease including Howard who discovers early enough to declare his status publicly and raise money for AIDS causes. The title of this gay film comes from the term The New York Times used to describe homosexual partners. The New York Times always described the surviving homosexual partner in the obituaries as his longtime companion.