Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119 - Monday, May 5, 1997 - Page A14
David Tuller, Chronicle Staff Writer
Some 350 communities in 45 countries held similar events last night as part of the 14th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization, which began in San Francisco in 1983.
Since last year's march, the advent of powerful new drugs called protease inhibitors has significantly changed the medical prospects for many of those who have access to them.
Many of those who took part last night said they were concerned that some people, including many gay men, have the perception that the epidemic is waning. By participating in the march, they said, they hoped to alert others that the fight is far from over.
"Speaking as a white gay man, it does no honor to the memories of our friends and lovers to just allow AIDS to become a disease of poor communities," said Tom Boellstorff, a board member of Mobilization Against AIDS, which organizes the annual event. "It does not honor them to settle for anything less than total victory, which means access to health care and drugs for everyone."
Each year, Mobilization Against AIDS registers coordinators in the growing number of cities that hold similar events in May.
The crowd gathered just before dusk at the intersection of Castro and Market streets, where the organizers sold candles to those who arrived without makeshift torches of their own. The great majority of the participants were men.
"There are not many women here, but women get AIDS, too," said Pamela Wegner, who recently moved to San Francisco from Los Angeles. "I'm here for all my friends who have passed away or who are sick right now."
Members of ACT UP's Golden Gate chapter carried signs with the photos and names of those who had died on one side and the phrase "AIDS still kills" on the other. Some members of the group scattered leaflets on the marchers from the freeway overpass.
The leaflets urged people to call the drug company Glaxo Wellcome and demand that they make a promising new anti-HIV drug called 1592 more widely available.
At the rally in United Nations Plaza last night, Mayor Willie Brown doffed his baseball cap to greet those gathered, who raised their candles in response. Behind him hung some panels from the Names Project quilt.
"I'm really proud of what we have done collectively year in and year out in this battle," said Brown. "But I don't want us to get overly optimistic. . . . The cure is not here yet."
The turnout was significantly smaller than in some previous years, when the ribbon of candles appeared to stretch down Market Street forever.
"I think people are just burnt out, and they're already struggling with this every day," said Linda- jean Archambault, who just moved back to San Francisco after five years on Kauai.
Earlier Sunday, housewives in the rural villages of Madras, India, lit clay lamps to pay tribute to those who have died.
In South Africa, retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu took part in a Cape Town candlelight march, and in Lima, Peru, a child released a white dove as an offering of peace.
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