Bay Area Reporter - December 7, 2000
Matt Sharp, Survive AIDS Writers Pool

The pressure valve has been released on the desperation and doom of the early days. And so, World AIDS Day has become as pass as AIDS itself, at least in this country. It is just another day to recognize another forgotten war.

How did you observe World AIDS Day this year? Did you attend a Quilt display, a church service, a museum, or a play? Did you take time to make a phone call to an elected official or AIDS researcher? Did you hear the astounding World AIDS Day statistic that 36 million people worldwide are now infected with HIV? Or did you just stay home and watch television, turning the channel as a story about World AIDS Day came on the air?

As a person surviving with AIDS, everyday is World AIDS Day. Even though I am fairly healthy after living with HIV for over 10 years, I live my life counting pills, injecting hormones, and worrying about my own next treatment regimen and the new changing spot on my face. I grow increasingly fatigued and watch as my body changes due to the drugs I am taking. I admit that I have grown somewhat indifferent to years of fighting and always being angry, but I have chosen to try enjoying life at a time I thought was not going to be mine. Let's face it, the desperation is not here any more for me, but the daily reminders remain to torment.

What should strike up any fear in the minds of complacent people is the current political climate in this country that may be reminiscent of the Reagan-Bush years.

The need for the AIDS movement to be awakened may be just around the corner. There is a frightening prospect that all the progress we have made in the epidemic may erode if George W. Bush becomes president, which seems to be more of a reality as the Florida situation drags on and on. His campaign was very careful in not portraying him as a right wing nut, but if one looks at his record on AIDS in Texas, it is clear we are in for another AIDS battle.

In the presidential campaign, Bush was completely milquetoast about AIDS. His comments were non-committal and vague. (like most of his other positions) Before he began his push for president, he never uttered the word AIDS in public. And where George W. Bush has the least experience in foreign policy of any president I can remember (he's been out of the country three times), how is there going to be leadership from the U.S. to curb the worldwide epidemic? In regards to giving financial aid to fight the African AIDS epidemic Bush said, "before we spend money ... we must be careful that corrupt governments do not squander it."

Another scary prospect is that Bush wants to name Oklahoma Congressman Tom Coburn as secretary of Health and Human Services. As Bush did in Texas, Coburn backed mandatory HIV names reporting; he makes Donna Shalala look like a goddess. As governor, Bush chose a Christian right wing health commissioner who opposed condom use because "it's not what God intended."

This is the backward thinking we have to look forward to.

Although Bush states he is supportive of extension of the Ryan White CARE Act, as rates of AIDS in Texas rose through the year 1999, his AIDS budget in Texas never increased.

No other political party could be so aligned with the pharmaceutical industry as the Republicans. While Bush's campaign fought ever so humbly for senior prescription drug coverage, it became clear that Bush will never support price controls for drugs and overhaul of managed care. In the age of rising prices for new AIDS drugs, and the implosion of health care, this cannot be a positive situation for the health and well being of people with HIV.

Dick Cheney, Bush's running mate, has a well-known AIDS-phobic record. He voted against the AIDS Federal Policy Act in 1988 that was the first important bill to fund HIV testing and counseling. He voted with only 37 other House members that same year to cut AIDS research funding. He was known to add anti-gay language to other anti-gay bills. This is one Neanderthal, as Ann Richards said, that we don't need in this era of progress against AIDS.

Perhaps the greatest threat with a Bush presidency, given his ties to the right wing, is his possible Supreme Court nominations. We all know the implications of these life-sustaining appointments and how their damage cannot be undone.

So one could assume we could rest on our laurels when it comes to AIDS, right? Haven't we been to enough demonstrations? Thrown enough of our lovers' ashes over the White House lawn? Lobbied till we were blue in the face for more AIDS funding? Targeted one more drug company? Isn't it time to give it a break?

No. Stop for a second and look what is coming to a theater near you ... George W. Bush and his cast of cronies, and maybe next year you'll do something on World AIDS Day ... and every day.

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