The Miami Herald, Inc.; a Knight Ridder publication. One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 - Monday, December 2, 1996 Edition: Final Section: Front Page: 1A Word Count: 796
Frances Robles; Herald Staff Writer

It talked about purple skin spots, taking overloads of medicine and enduring invasive tests. It mused about families that care and governments that don't.

It bemoaned a life with AIDS.

Meanwhile, music thumped and drinks were mixed. Beautiful people laughed, danced, and nibbled on good food -- all in the name of a horrific disease. This was not just a regular party. This was the 12th annual White Party.

"You have to understand," explained party volunteer Arthur Marcus, "it's become a part of our lives."

The White Party is an annual fund-raiser expected to bring in $550,000 for the Health Crisis Network, the largest and oldest AIDS service organization in Florida. Twenty-five hundred people -- mostly gay men -- poured into Vizcaya Sunday night from throughout the world. Up to 10,000 others flocked to South Beach for the week's events.

There were so many people interested in attending, spillover events were held at local clubs.

For some it was a festive occasion that happened to fall on World AIDS Day. For many others, it was a cause.

"We have lost so many people, so many lovers and friends," Marcus said. "This party is a celebration of life."

A personal issue

For Marcus and most other people there, the issue is a personal one: He estimates he has lost about 20 friends to AIDS.

"You try not to think about it," Marcus said. "When you're in your early 40s, you're not supposed to have this much death around you. But it's all around us. I guess it's what mobilizes us."

And mobilize, people did -- everywhere.

In Rome, taxi drivers distributed AIDS leaflets, and in Thailand, gas station attendants offered free condoms. In South Africa, Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu went on television to urge people to practice safe sex.

Local fund-raisers

A telethon was held in Broward, a church service at Barry University. This week, Food for Life will hold a dinner and silent auction to raise money to buy food for people with AIDS.

In New York, volunteers stood in front of City Hall in the rain, reading out the names of thousands who have died from the disease.

"We do it because we want to remember the people we've lost," said Ginny Shubert, who works with an AIDS services group. "We also wanted to remind the government that people are dying, and every day time runs out for people that we love."

World AIDS Day was marked with renewed vigor Sunday after a United Nations agency reported an accelerated death toll, with nearly a quarter of the 6.4 million AIDS deaths to date occurring in the past year.

In 1996, 3.1 million people were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That brought the total number of people with HIV or AIDS to 22.6 million.

Cavalier attitudes

In South Florida, the news is also troubling: Local studies suggest medical advances in the treatment of AIDS are causing cavalier attitudes.

According to a Florida International University study, 79 percent of men over 29 engaged in unprotected intercourse at least once in the preceding year, a rate only slightly higher than the level for younger men, 72 percent.

"I just can't believe those statistics," said Michael Hornyac, another White Party volunteer. "We are at an amazing point, though. There's been so much hope. We're at a point we never thought we would be."

In the meantime, Hornyac says, the rest of us must continue pushing the message.

"Right now," he said, "education is the only cure."

That word was spread around the world Sunday. Photos of emaciated people with AIDS were posted in Beijing. A 20-foot tree bearing 12,000 red ribbons was lit in Tokyo. People marched in Paris and Manila, Philippines. Algerians took a different approach: The state-run media recommended abstinence.

This story was supplemented by the Associated Press reports.

CAPTION: color photo: Sean Reives and Vance Avery dressed as sailors for White Party at Vizcaya (a); photo: Several hundred people wearing red shirts and holding candles form a human AIDS ribbon at Barry University (a), Sister Lucy Ochilli joins in the singing during a candlelight service for World AIDS Day (a)

Photos by C.W. GRIFFIN / Herald Staff

SPECIAL SERVICE: Several hundred people wearing red shirts and holding candles form a human AIDS ribbon at Barry University.

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL: Sister Lucy Ochilli, a student at Barry University, joins in the singing during a candlelight service for World AIDS Day held at the campus.

C.W. GRIFFIN / Herald Staff

`CELEBRATION OF LIFE': Sean Reives, left, and Vance Avery, right, both of New York, dressed as sailors for White Party at Vizcaya. Proceeds benefit the Health Crisis Network.

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