AIDS: 25 years of an epidemic

So, today is the 25th anniversary of the CDC report that 5 gay men were treated for a rare form of pneumonia, later to be identified as AIDS. I lived near "ground zero" of the AIDS epidemic. I grew up in San Francisco, in the Haight Ashbury, just over the hill from the Castro. We had gay neighbors, both upstairs and next door. It was no big deal to me that two men were living together in each of those flats. As long as they loved and respected each other, I didn't care what they did in their bedrooms. Heck, I don't care what ANYONE, hetero- or homosexual does in their bedrooms... it's none of my business! (On today's news, I heard a "man-on-the-street" interview the Gay/Straight Alliance Parade in Los Altos. The man said he didn't *really* have a problem with this sort of thing, as long as they didn't rub it in his face. What the hell does that mean? Does that mean you don't want to see two men holding hands or two women hugging? Fine, then hetero couples shouldn't either. Don't rub it in his face. Sheesh!) Anyway, I digress...

My DH sent an email to his family today, mainly what he said at http://mootepoint.blogspot.com/2006/06/grim-milestone.html, except with the following links:

The SF Chronicle also has several articles online at http://www.sfgate.com/aidsat25. In case you don’t have time to look at all their extensive coverage, here are a couple of highlights:

This 1982 article by Randy Shilts (author of And the Band Played On) is a tear-jerker:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/17/DDGVB5133M1.DTL

The article contains a “more things change, the more they stay the same” line: “And when one gay victim of pneumocystis lapsed into a semi-coma, his relatives tried to strike his lover's name from the guest list and forbid him from seeing the dying man”

This picture is worth a quick look. It’s a heartbreaker that everybody should see as a reminder:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=1&f=/c/a/2006/06/04/ING97J7LD31.DTL

I humbly request that everybody take a moment to remember the half million Americans who have died over the last 25 years, the lost generation in Africa, and the continued problem throughout the world--and hope that we can solve this soon. We lit a yahrtzeit candle last night."

I took his email and forwarded it to my mom and sister with the following commentary:

"I'm forwarding D's email to you because we lived at ground zero of the start of the AIDS epidemic.

I remember the friends that disappeared. I remember the guy upstairs who just wanted to die at home when that eviction crap went on. (God help me, I forget his name.)

I was in tears reading the article and picture D. referenced. While AIDS is no longer just a "gay man's disease", I get angered by the young gay men who don't know to remember and don't take precautions because AIDS is now manageable. Why not try to eradicate it than live with it? Look at what's happened in Africa, in poor communities, in our community.

And today, of all days, Bush is giving a speech in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban "gay marriage" and the Senate is debating this issue. Have they no compassion for those who have died? For those who continue to live with HIV/AIDS? "Gay marriage" is not unnatural to me. Again, I think of the guys upstairs and next door on Central. I don't think growing up around the "gay lifestyle" has made me a bad person or weakened my marriage. Sure, D. and I have seen our share of challenges, but frankly, "gay marriage" is not one of them!

I just want to scream at the people who don't want their kids around the "gay lifestyle", at the people who think that their marriage is threatened by "Adam and Steve" getting married. At those people who won't talk about AIDS because it's a "gay disease", a "poor disease", a disease in Africa that doesn't affect us.

D. keeps telling me I had an unusual childhood. Maybe I'm just more enlightened than most folks, but I just don't understand, I really don't and it makes me very sad."