www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com • November 21, 2008

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

The last of a dying breed

by Robert Toth

I am a 20-year survivor living with AIDS, and another World AIDS Day is fast approaching.

Much has changed, much has stayed the same or gotten worse.

I have lived long enough to see food trays left at hospital room doors of people dying from AIDS. Now the dying are being fed and tended to. I have lived long enough to see the preventative measure of "gowning-up" come and go. I have lived to see the stigma of AIDS unchanged, conflicting AIDS transmission fears and infection rates spiraling out of control.

I have lived long enough to see a young man with AIDS-related dementia wander in the rain, wearing nothing but his pajamas, looking for his car. I have helped change the diaper of a 35-year-old man's lover. Some have withered away, suffering from wasting syndrome, spare as a baby bird of muchneeded muscle and body mass. Now, due to advances in HIV medications, that kind of dementia and wasting syndrome is a rarity.

I have seen a family change the locks and strip a home bare while a man was at the cemetery burying his loved one, only to return to an empty, locked home. I have seen families and lovers left broken and bereft after losing loved ones to AIDS. Those losses and bereavements continue.

I have mourned the loss of better men and women than I. Many more are still living in the shadows with AIDS. Fearful of the stigma, weary of being alone or shunned, tired of the medication's side effects. Many others are brave enough and strong enough to stand up and fight for continued AIDS services, funding and awareness. I am blessed in that

Robert Toth

I am still here fighting and writing with thinning grey hair, bifocals and my AARP card in hand. I am living proof of the incredible medical strides made in managing HIV and AIDS. I am blessed in living to see nieces and nephews come into my world and bring forth great-nieces and great-nephews. I am blessed in that I continue to continue.

In 1991 I saw the first red AIDS Awareness ribbon. Since then, there has been a literal rainbow of ribbons. Now, another World AIDS Day is upon us December 1, and like most other World AIDS Days I have seen, it will come and go with small, unnoticed, poorly-attended remembrance and awareness ceremonies. This year, another 56,000-plus Americans will become infected with HIV.

We need to wage a War on AIDS. This is a disease we know how to prevent. This is a war we know how to win.

Holiday with Heart benefits U. Toledo hospital's HIV clinic

by Rick Cornett

Toledo The holidays are here and with them, for the 31st year, the annual Holiday with Heart Charity Gayla dinner dance for the LGBT community and friends.

This is the oldest and largest annual event for the LGBT community in northwest Ohio, and last year 150 people enjoyed the 30th anniversary and the first gala held at the historic and beautiful Toledo Club.

The 2007 event raised $1,500 for the Safe Schools Project, and marked the rebirth of the holiday dinner-dance as Holiday with Heart, a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. That means that a portion of the ticket price will be a tax-deductible contribution. The project for 2008 is to raise funds for the foundation associated with the HIV family clinic at the University of Toledo MedicalHospital. We will be able to specifically earmark these funds for helping other LGBT people.

This year's soirée will feature entertainment by well-known jazz vocalist and re-

cording artist Kelly Broadway during the cocktail hour. After dinner, Bob Norris and the Class Act will play a wide variety of prerecorded sounds for dancing and listening. A strolling magician, Dorian Gray, will amaze attendees and Santa will return to take pictures with all the "girls and boys.”

Join Holiday with Heart for a wonderful evening benefiting an incredible cause. Tickets are $60 and entrée selections include slow-roasted prime rib, a grilled vegetable tower or chicken penne alfredo.

This year's event will once again take place at the luxurious Toledo Club, at the corner of 14th and Madison. The festivities begin at 5:30 pm on Sunday, December 7.

For more information, call 419-470-3937 or e-mail holidaywithheart@aol.com. Payment and reservations are due by December 4. Checks can be made out to Holiday with Heart, 2815 Collingwood, Toledo Ohio 43610.

Rick Cornett, along with David Bingham, Ed Hoffman and Wayne North, are the hosts of Holiday with Heart Charity Gayla.

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