Freak': Meet Cuba's Last Self-Infected HIV Punk Rebel
Freak': Meet Cuba's Last Self-Infected HIV Punk Rebel
- Like many young punks, Gerson Govea saw himself as a misfit. But few embraced the role as self-destructively as this Cuban rocker: he deliberately infected himself with HIV. He is considered the last of the most hardcore members of the "frikis," or "freaks," as the communist island's unique breed of hippy-punk dropouts is known. Beyond the rum, free love and forbidden rock 'n' roll music, they took their rebellion a stage further: infecting themselves in order to get into the relative safety and comfort of a state AIDS clinic.
- Like many young punks, Gerson Govea saw himself as a misfit. But few embraced the role as self-destructively as this Cuban rocker: he deliberately infected himself with HIV. He is considered the last of the most hardcore members of the "frikis," or "freaks," as the communist island's unique breed of hippy-punk dropouts is known. Beyond the rum, free love and forbidden rock 'n' roll music, they took their rebellion a stage further: infecting themselves in order to get into the relative safety and comfort of a state AIDS clinic.
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