Bay Windows - Local News, April 14, 1999
Beth Berlo,Bay Windows staff

Citing less successful fund-raisers and more successful drug therapies as the driving forces behind the anticipated shortfall, Larry Kessler, executive director of AIDS Action, called the job cuts a preventative measure "so we don't go into the hole next year." Kessler said the organization had a small deficit this year, but next year the number would have jumped significantly. "It would have been going against the tide," Kessler said in an interview.

The biggest drop-off in funds raised by the annual AIDS Walk was in 1996 following the success of protease inhibitors known as HIV drug cocktails. But, Kessler said, "There's a denial in some people's minds that there's a cure out there and that they don't need to give anymore--that it's all over."

Responding to significant social and medical changes around the epidemic which led to the major layoff, AIDS Action will restructure itself by shifting its focus to prevention and direct services. Organizers have prioritized education and client services programs to create the greatest possible dent in the HIV infection rate in Boston. To do this, the organization had to reduce its budget by $900,000. Client-service programs, organizers say, will not be eliminated.

"AIDS Action has always been flexible and creative in fighting the HIV epidemic," Kessler said. "The changes that we see now, both in the epidemic and in the public atmosphere, demand a change in how we approach our work. After a great deal of study, thought, and discussion, we have decided to target our programs where they can have the greatest impact on ending the epidemic."

One of the new prevention measures includes a neighborhood mobilization where outreach will occur in the neighborhoods with high incidence rates of HIV infection. AIDS Action will target merchants, health centers, schools, churches and residents' groups in these locations. "We'll look at the STD rates, HIV infection and AIDS cases, and at what's happening in terms of drop-out rates, pregnancies and poverty rates," Kessler said. "Our goal is to stop the epidemic as we know it."

The statistics around HIV and AIDS are often deceiving. While the number of people who died from AIDS plummeted 47 percent in 1997, nearly 40,000 people in the U.S. per year continue to become infected.

Barebacking--condomless intercourse between men--is a subject that has not only made headlines throughout the year, but has several high-profile lesbian activists speaking out. The Advocate, a national gay news magazine, recently polled a dozen women about their feelings on the subject, and the responses ranged from bitterness to concern.

Robin Tyler, executive producer of the Millennium March, said, "In the beginning, when people got AIDS, we didn't know how they got it. But at this point they know, and for lesbians to continue to help people who are purposely infecting each other--I think that's being codependent. It's enabling behavior that destroys people."

Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, said, "It's not just an issue of whether lesbians should be concerned--all people should be concerned. There is a cure for AIDS and it is prevention."

Sex writer and educator Carol Queen blames poor education that makes someone choose a risky behavior such as barebacking. "People who are informed and make the decision to [bareback,] they can go ahead and do it. [But] I want to make sure they know what they're up against. I want to make sure they're not dreaming that, 'Oh, we've got a pretty good drug cocktail now, and in a couple of years we'll have the cure; it's not a problem,' because that's denial," she said.

"[Barebacking] is not out of control yet," Kessler said. "But there's certainly a movement in the wrong direction."

AIDS Action's financial crisis appears to be in the spirit of the times however, as discouraging results from annual fund-raisers reflect a nationwide trend. The Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York announced recently that it would no longer hold a popular annual fund-raiser event on Fire Island. Though the cancellation may have had more to do with overdoses at the popular Morning Party than failed fund-raising efforts, the nation's largest AIDS-service organization suffered a steep drop-off in private contributions which resulted in the elimination of more than a quarter of GMHC's staff positions.

Kessler noted that it's increasingly difficult for all non-profits to keep the giving public interested.

"Events unto themselves have a lifespan," Kessler said. "That's what happened with the dance-a-thon. The same happened with our gay pride dance. There's a challenge to create events that are interesting, viable and reproducible. The Walk is an older model. It's still successful. We anticipate that we'll do it for years to come. But the peak was in 1992. We made $3.2 million. Last year, it was a little under $2.2 million."

Though his job was one that was eliminated, Jay Clark, executive office coordinator and Kessler's right-hand man, said he'd be back to volunteer. "As a gay man, I feel that a lot of the community has shut us out because they are tired of dealing with the epidemic. It's emotionally downtrodden. There really isn't anything affirming wholeheartedly about AIDS," he said. "I think the layoffs have shed light on it again and people will realize that support is still needed to keep it going and, if anything, this whole situation will not diminish the quality of support of services and what this is going to create. The people that work here will fight even more to maintain the quality of services, and I think now more than ever, volunteers should come together to pick up the slack in the areas where people will need assistance."

AIDS Action employees described the mood after the layoff announcements last week as "somber" and "tearful." "One of the hardest aspects of this job is dealing with loss of people," Clark said. "In a way, it's almost like a death. Things are very tight here. Everyone is very supportive of one another, and there's a definite chain of emotions."

Annie Silvia, executive director of Boston's AIDS Consortium, said she wasn't surprised by the layoffs. "I think it's clearly unfortunate. I think, however, that it's indicative of a national trend." But Silvia said organizations "need to look at how services are delivered in light of decreasing revenue."

The layoffs are effective April 22. The positions span the rank from secretary to case manager, and employees who have been at AIDS Action from one to 10 years, Kessler said, with an average duration of four and one-half years. They will each get six weeks salary as severance, three months of health coverage, and accumulated vacation time. "In a layoff, people take things personally," Kessler said. "We tried to reassure them not to. It's still kind of quiet around here. It's a great team."
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