San Francisco Chronicle - December 1, 2005
Wyatt Buchanan, wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Activist Cleve Jones thought up the quilt on Nov. 27, 1985, at an annual march commemorating the killings of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Jones had read a newspaper headline that morning announcing 1,000 San Franciscans had died of AIDS. He got marchers to carry posters with the names of friends, lovers and family members who had died. When they reached Civic Center, where Jones had hidden ladders, the marchers taped the placards to the federal building. Jones recalls thinking they resembled a quilt, though he was alone.

"Everyone told me it was the stupidest thing they had ever heard of," Jones said.

Over the next year, he tested positive for HIV, he survived an antigay attack, and his best friend died from AIDS.

"I was consumed by hate and fear and despair, and out of that came the quilt, somehow," said Jones, who sewed the first panel in memory of his friend Marvin Feldman.

Today, the quilt has more than 40,000 panels. Six will be displayed from noon to 8 p.m. today at the San Rafael High School library in San Rafael. A candlelight march is set for 6:30 p.m. at the high school, at 185 Mission Ave.

Another portion of the quilt hangs this week at the Cesar Chavez Student Center at San Francisco State University and another in the lobby of the federal building in Oakland.

A verbal agreement between Jones and the foundation that now owns the quilt was to bring a portion of it permanently back to San Francisco, but settlement talks have broken down.

Numerous other events throughout the Bay Area will observe World AIDS Day today. Worldwide, 40 million people are living with HIV, and 5 million were infected in the past year, according to the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS.

At San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, there will be a ceremony at noon at the National AIDS Memorial Grove, at Bowling Green and Middle Drive East. Sean Strub, who founded POZ magazine, a publication for people affected by HIV, will speak.

UCSF's AIDS Research Institute will hold a symposium on research advances from 2 to 5 p.m. in Cole Hall on the Parnassus Campus. A benefit concert for the institute featuring musician Spencer Day and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus is set for 7 p.m. in the Robertson Auditorium of the UCSF Mission Bay Community Center at 1675 Owens St.

In Oakland, an AIDS Walk around Lake Merritt is to start at noon at Snow Park at 20th and Harrison streets, where there also will be free HIV screenings, with results in 20 minutes. More online

For details on Bay Area events, go to www.sfaf.org/aboutaids/world_aids_2005.html.

051201
SC051203

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2005. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .