Bay Area Reporter - May 25, 2001
Liz Highleyman

This year's vigil held special significance, given that on June 5, 2001, it will have been 20 years since the first cases of what came to be known as AIDS were reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AIDS Candlelight Vigil was first held in San Francisco and New York in 1983, and has expanded to include events in over 400 cities, towns, and villages in over 60 countries.

Sunday's march left the Castro at twilight, led by a group of people with AIDS carrying the original "Fighting for Our Lives" banner. The march proceeded down Market Street to the San Francisco Public Library. At the library there was a short rally and people called out names of loved ones they have lost. A wall at the library was turned into an impromptu altar with photos of many of those lost to the disease.

This year's march reflected some themes that have drawn increased attention over the past year. Many transgender marchers took part in the vigil, and Veronika Cauley of the Transgender AIDS Advocacy Advancement Peer Project, reminded the crowd that while the city has a new law providing access to healthcare coverage for transgendered city workers, many transgendered people still have HIV and AIDS. Said Cauley, "We all know someone who has touched our lives who has or had AIDS à think of those you have lost, think of those still infected, and if you are infected, think of yourselves."

Another theme, reflected in posters and the words of several speakers, was the plight of people with HIV/AIDS in Africa and other poor countries. The situation in Africa has received a great deal of attention this year as treatment advocates have demanded increased funding and access to cheaper generic versions of patented anti-HIV drugs.

Different participants in the march had various reasons for taking part. Several marchers carried signs with photographs of their deceased loved ones. Marc Adams, a Bay Area social justice activist, said he was there because AIDS is still killing people. "I'm HIV-positive," said Adams, "and one day I may be one of the people that others are remembering at an event like this."

Supervisor Mark Leno said, "There is wisdom in this community in having rituals to remind us of those who have died and to remind the greater community that AIDS is not over." Leno continued, "We must remain vigilant in our pursuit of a cure, better treatments, and more assistance for those living with HIV."

Jeff Sheehy, a longtime AIDS activist and former president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, said that 20 years after the first case of AIDS was reported, "nothing has changed," and that "at every level, we're under assault." Sheehy decried the "pathetic" $200 million that the Bush administration has pledged for AIDS funding for developing countries, and noted that the California power crisis has cut into funding for the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

"We need a new wave of activism à we must lie down in the streets again à we must be arrested again," Sheehy said.

The Reverend Jim Mitulski, GLBT outreach coordinator for the library's James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, welcomed the assembly to the library, and spoke of what he sees as a growing tendency to blame those who are newly infected. "We must say that we are in solidarity with every person with HIV," he said, "whether they have had it for one month or 20 years." Speaking of the growing proportion of AIDS deaths among homeless people, Mitulski emphasized that "fighting HIV means battling poverty and prejudice."

Michael Siever, director of the Stonewall Project harm reduction initiative, sounded a similar theme, saying that "the war on drugs has done more to spread AIDS than any other policy," and that people who use drugs must be treated with dignity.

Other speakers and performers at the rally included emcees Sister Roma and Empress XXXIII Alexis Miranda, transgender activist Felicia Elizondo, Casa Segura director Chris Catchpool, San Francisco poet laureate Janice Mirikitani, longtime AIDS activist Michael Lauro, and Sylvester back-up singer L.Z. Love.

To conclude, Leno and Siever read an international declaration to United Nations delegates, who will be meeting in a special assembly on AIDS in late June. The declaration makes several demands, including education for all people about HIV and AIDS; an end to discrimination against people with AIDS; the need for debt relief for poor countries and the mobilization of local, national, and global resources to fight the disease; and access to care û including life-saving medications and supportive services û for all people.

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