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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JANUARY 26, 1996
OPEN ROADS
Momentum is building both for and against people with AIDS
by Thom Summers
Happy New Year? During the time surrounding New Year's, many of us take time to reflect on the past year and to envision the coming year. This year, for me, was much different. I have been trying to create some sort of order in my life, a sense of focus and centeredness. Humbling myself, I have fallen short. A lost promotion, a recently failed relationship, and a lot of loneliness; it almost feels as though my HIV clock is ticking much faster than I would like. Often I feel as though I am running out of time.
Book after book preaches the importance of the now, this very minute, and the impor-
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tance of experiencing it, even if it is with yourself. Three years later I still stumble at the living in the now, right now.
12 months of todays ahead of us. The face of AIDS is changing, politically and socially. In Cleveland we have elected officials calling for mandatory testing and quarantining all people with HIV. Just last night during a
LIFE. AIDS LOVE
Speaking as a panel member of HIVaffected people last weekend, I heard one person say (while talking about his initial diagnosis) that in a matter of a few minutes he had nothing left, no hopes, no dreams. I was quick to respond that I still have the same hopes and dreams, I just needed to modify them to somehow incorporate HIV.
No matter how I look at it, HIV is no dream, and the only hope I have is for a cure. After reflecting on this man's words for several days, I think I am beginning to understand. When being true to myself and to my virus, I sometimes feel like I, too,
OPEN ROADS
have lost everything. Although no one knows when he or she is going to pass into whatever it is that comes next, there seems to be a certain confidence that it will be a long time from today. The reality is, for all of us, we really only have today!
Having said all that, I am excited about the
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newscast, the correspondent reported that the American Medical Association has admitted that people are dying at a rate 60 percent higher than that of years past due to new viruses and antibiotic resistance. The Food and Drug Administration will be trying to fast-track new options in the coming year.
I feel as maybe it is finally our time, as long overdue as it is, to receive some attention and support from the AMA and the FDA. Several weeks ago a customer at work started speaking to me, unaware of my HIV status. She spoke to me about her brother who passed away a year ago from AIDS, and the Names Project AIDS
AIDS organizations
Memorial Quilt. She also spoke of World AIDS Day and how 'our' response to AIDS saddens her. I wish I had felt her experience. I also wanted to tell this stranger that I know about World AIDS Day and the Names Project, and that I share her sadness.
The world is changing, one person at a time. With the current momentum building both for and against people with HIV/AIDS it is crucial that we, as people, do something to make things different. Mandatory testing? Quarantining? Science has made amazing progress over the past year; unfortunately, not enough. My friends are still dying, I am still dying.
As we enter into this New Year, please make a commitment to yourself, our community, your friends, and most importantly, to our future to do something about AIDS this year. Something different. Slow the spread of ignorance and intolerance, and you will also slow the spread of hatred, isolation, HIV, and death!
Please send any comments, concerns, questions, and experiences to Thom Sommers, care of the Chronicle, P.O. Box 5426, Cleveland, Ohio 44101.
Here are addresses and phones for some national and Ohio AIDS organizations, plus the White House. A complete list of local AIDS groups is under “AIDS Services” in the Resource Directory on page 33.
ACT UP Cleveland, P.O. Box 771404, Lakewood 44107; voice mail 216-556-0438 AIDS Action Council, 1875 Connecticut Ave. N.W. #700, Washington, D.C. 20009; 202-986-1300 Mothers March Against AIDS-Mothers Voices, 165 West 46th St. #1310, NY, NY 10036; 212-730-2777 Ohio AIDS Coalition, 48 West Whittier St., Columbus 43206; 614-444-1683, 800-226-5554 The Names Project (The entire 40,000-panel Quilt will be displayed in Washington, D.C. on October 11-13.) 310 Townsend St. #310, San Francisco, CA 94107; 415-863-5511 President Bill Clinton, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washinton, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1111, fax 202456-2461
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