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The focus of this section is examining the impact of AIDS and HIV in Monterey County as well as the United States. Through this sections the Impact of HIV/AIDs is split up in three subcategories. The first category is looking at Worlds AID Day through the lens over Monterey County. The second section explores the Washington AIDs March. The last category compared and contrast the Monterey County AIDs Project and similar movements nationwide.
Worlds AIDS day
On December 1st 1994, the Monterey County will forever know this day as Worlds AIDS Day. In the mid 1980’s, the AIDS/HIV epidemic would soon shake the world with fear for years to come. The AIDS or HIV disease stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or human immunodeficiency virus. This immunodeficiency was a sickness the United States was unfamiliar with, which meant there was no cure or no medication. The only thing that was certain was, if you had this sickness it meant you were gay to the outside world. From the beginning of this epidemic, society declared the AIDS/HIV disease as the “gay disease”. In the Monterey County AIDs Project Newsletter, author Jenna Laney describes the lives of children living with parent who are HIV+. One of the young girls Laney interviewed was named Emily, who had a father that was gay and living with the virse. She stated, “When one friend’s parent found out that my dad is gay, they started to treat me differently. They discouraged her from coming to my house. People are afraid of HIV”[1]. This is a perfect example of how much this disease affected the gay community. Straight people were being diagnosed with this sickness but all society wanted to do was point the finger at anyone who was gay. A sickness that was killing millions of people around the world and not considered as a real sickness to the federal government would soon be immortalized by the Monterey county. Coleen Haworth was the organizer of the Monterey’s first observation of Worlds AIDS day in 1994. “People with AIDS, friends and family (however defined, HIV+ and HIV-), formed a large circle at Monterey’s Window on the Bay Park on Del Monte Avenue (across from Lake El Estero at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, December 1.”[2] This event was to celebrate those who have been affected by this disease and others who merely wanted to support the ill. Worlds AIDS day was a historical event of Montereys’ history because it was not only the gay community that united, but local and state politicians joined hands as well. They all came together to sing “Amazing Grace” in front of the press and TV coverage. With the help of donations from a variety of donors, a long banner hung across Alvarado street claiming “World AIDS day.” Despite a world-wide stigma against a disease crippling multiple communities, the county of Monterey came together to recognize and uplift those who were affected.
March on Washington
In 1987, more than 200,000 people march on Washington to protest the lack of right for the members of the gay communities. Although the numbers are still disputed, it is believed that, according to accounts of the marchers and the police, somewhere between 300,000 and 750,000 people participated in the march [5]. With speakers like Jesse Jackson and Cesar Chavez in attendance, the march quickly captured the attention of the media. Along the list of their topics was the lack of attention that the AIDS crisis had gotten. With a mounting death toll already in the thousands and no cure in sight, many in the LGBT community felt that their voice was being ignored because it was seen as a “gay disease” and unworthy or getting attention by the Center for Disease Control [6]. In response, the gay community unveiled the project they had spent months working on: the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
The quilt, which was the brainchild of creator Cleve Jones, featured hundreds of sewn names of those who had died from the disease [3]. At the time, the quilt had more than one thousand names on it, though would later go on to have more than 45,000 panels. When unveiled, the quilt stretched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, and would later make its way across the country, including various places in the Monterey County. The march would eventually make the AIDS crisis unavoidable and be a success at gathering attention and support on both in and out of government. The push on the CDC would eventually lead to many breakthroughs on finding a solution for the crisis, including ways for people to find out whether they were HIV positive and the eventual creation of the first drug for fighting the autoimmune disease [6]. Outside of government, the march would lead the public to find ways to draw support for the crisis in their own communities.Local Impact
As the AIDS epidemic grew on a national level, communities hit with it began to mobilize in order to enhance education and help prevent its spread[11]. Starting out in San Francisco some of these groups included: The San Francisco AIDS foundation, the Shanti Project, the Haight-Ashbury free clinic, Prevention Point, Project Open Hand, etc.[8] Women also began to step forward to help raise awareness[10], as they were often misdiagnosed or considered to not be at risk for AIDS because it was seen as a “gay man’s disease”[7].
Bay Area residents responded by volunteering and funding AIDS research when government aid was not available. Candlelight vigils were common in communities with a large gay presence as a means of honoring those impacted or whose lives were taken by the disease. The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power bridged communities in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, coming together to promote AIDS awareness and social action. While national communities worked towards AIDS awareness, the Monterey County AIDS project(MCAP) fought to educate within the local community. Sending out newsletters to educate and promote events such as marches gave a voice to those impacted. Honoring dedicated volunteers and promoting AIDS awareness week created strong community ties for those with HIV/AIDS and their families. Community members hosted food drives partnered with grocery stores and supported the funding of clinics to improve the quality of life for individuals with HIV/AIDS[9].ADD IMAGE CREDITS
References
[1] Jessica Eastman, "How HIV Affects MY Life," Monterey County AIDS Project Newsletter, May 1994, , accessed May 7, 2019.
[2] Matthew Friday, "World AIDS Day: December 1,1994; AIDS and the Family," The Paper! 1 (December/January 1994): , accessed April 16, 2019.
[3] The Thirty Years’ War. (2011, Jun). Out, 19, S1,S3-S6. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.library2.csumb.edu:2248/docview/869749942?accountid=10355
[4] Melville, Tom. "John XXIII." The Paper(Monterey), August 1, 1995, 2nd ed.
[5] Jones, Cleve. "The AIDS Memorial Quilt; October 1987; Quilt Creator Cleave Jones Recounts the Inspiration for the Most Eloquent Memorial to Lives Lost to AIDS." The Advocate, November 12, 2002, 99.
[6] Davis, Wes. "Home Testing for HIV Antibodies: Who Benefits?" The Paper (Monterey), September/October, 1994, 1st ed.
[7] Lisa Beck, "AIDS: A Woman's Problem, Too," Demeter, April/May 1985.
[8] Stryker, Susan, Jim Van Buskirk, and Armistead Maupin. Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. 1996.
[9] April 1994 MCAP Newsletter
[10] Schneider, Beth., and Beth E. Stoller. Women Resisting AIDS: Feminist Strategies of Empowerment. Health, Society, and Policy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
[11] Drass, Kriss A., Peter R. Gregware, and Michael Musheno. "Social, Cultural, and Temporal Dynamics of the AIDS Case Congregation: Early Years of the Epidemic." Law & Society Review 31, no. 2 (1997): 267-99.