Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - May 11, 2006
Matthew S. Bajko, m.bajko@ebar.com
Called "Promise for the Future: Marking 25 Years of HIV/AIDS," the installation includes 90 paper irises hung from business awnings, large fabricated iris flowers that illuminate at night attached to 12 lamp posts along Castro Street between 18th and Market, and a 43-foot long fence at 18th and Castro streets decorated by the Ixia florist shop that will serve as a message board for people to attach notes about how they personally will commit to ending AIDS or where they can write the name of or a message to loved ones who have died of AIDS.
"This is a moment to stop and remember those we have lost and to thank those who have fought," said Stop AIDS spokesman Jason Riggs. "This is also a moment to make or renew personal commitments to help prevent the spread of HIV. Some of us have already made this promise and some of us have never been asked.
"The reality is, each of us has more power to help stop the spread of HIV than any medication or prevention ad. Together our actions make a big difference," added Riggs.
On June 5, 1981 the first published report about a new, mysterious disease killing homosexual men appeared in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . Los Angeles health officials had reported back in May of that year that five otherwise healthy gay men had pneumonia and two had died.
The report indicated that all the men had a "cellular-immune dysfunction related to a common exposure" and a "disease acquired through sexual contact." Soon federal health officials learned of similar cases in cities across the United States. San Francisco's Castro District was particularly hit hard by what became known as AIDS. Over the course of the epidemic, the city has recorded nearly 18,000 deaths due to AIDS.
Last fall, as Stop AIDS staff and volunteers began talking about how to mark the more than two dozen years of trying to stop the spread of HIV, some suggested erecting thousands of tombstones in the Castro. The agency had used a similar visual marking the 20th year in the epidemic, drawing chalk outlines of bodies on the streets.
But a majority of people said they wanted to use a more positive message this year. Unlike five years ago, when city health officials feared seeing a resurgence in the epidemic, this year they are cautiously optimistic due to the fact they have seen a slight decline in HIV rates. The turnaround in HIV rates is a "tremendous accomplishment by gay, bi and trans men in the city" noted Stop AIDS, which hopes to "capture this momentum to help stop the spread of HIV."
The agency selected the iris flower because of its symbolism in many cultures, including Egypt, India, Japan, and Europe. The iris equates life, hope, healing, and strength. It is named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow who brought messages between the heavens and earth and helped usher souls to the afterlife.
Local artist Chris Ehr, 40, who recently moved from San Francisco to Oakland, spent the last four weeks creating by hand the 90 smaller blue and purple irises out of stiffened paper and wire.
"We hope by having these budding flowers that they are symbols of hope, growth, healing, strength, and regeneration. They are just what spring time flowers mean," he said. "There is so much people can do on an individual basis. I mulled those things over in my head and put a little bit of myself into each one."
Ehr, who is gay, said he remembers living in Colorado at the time of the first reports on AIDS and estimated over the years he has lost at least 50 friends to the disease. He described his contribution for the display as a "work of the heart" and added that each flower "has a little bit of my memory of the people I have known and my hope for people going into the future."
Throughout May, Stop AIDS staff and volunteers will hand out hundreds of iris flowers to people in the Castro. Messages attached to the stems will ask people to make or renew a promise for the future. The installation and outreach efforts will culminate in a community forum about HIV and AIDS from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 1 at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center.
"I hope that people take the time to really understand what this project is about and to look within themselves and think about what does HIV and AIDS mean to them as an individual and really think about what can they do," said Ehr.
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