LGBTQ, health care, and AIDS activists will be commemorating the 36th annual World AIDS Day Sunday, December 1, with events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The observances come ahead of President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House and fears among many advocates about what his administration might do in terms of budget cuts or other changes to public health matters.
Chief among the events is a ceremony from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the only federally designated memorial to those who died in the epidemic. John Cunningham, a gay man who is the grove's chief executive, told the Bay Area Reporter that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Vince Crisostomo will be honored with the Thom Weyand Unsung Hero Award "for his decades of selfless service to improving our community and the lives of which it is made."
"Vince is truly an example of selfless service and we are so honored to bestow this award on him," Cunningham said.
Crisostomo, a gay Chamorro, told the B.A.R. that he'll be uplifting those who've died as he receives the award.
"The end of 2024 has been a really emotional time of sadness and joy," Crisostomo stated. "I feel that this recognition is not just me but all the people I have served and those lost to HIV who are the true unsung heroes."
Cunningham said that at the event, Crisostomo will be participating in a conversation "focused on the nearly four-and-a-half decades of HIV and its impact upon the world" moderated by infectious disease expert and advocate Larkin Callaghan, Ph.D., and also featuring Percy Vermut, a trans tutor and mentor with BreakthroughSF, the San Francisco chapter of a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting low-income students in pursuing higher education; and Kimberly M. Canady, who is HIV-positive. Canady was born with HIV and was unaware she was living with HIV until her 10th birthday, according to her bio on The Well Project.
There'll also be a posthumous honor bestowed upon Hydeia Broadbent, who died at the age of 39 in February. Broadbent was a trailblazer for the Dandelion community — those who've had HIV their entire lives.
Broadbent's birth mother abandoned her at a Las Vegas hospital at the time of her birth in 1984. Three years later she was diagnosed with the AIDS virus. She famously spoke at the 1996 Republican National Convention. Broadbent died of a heart attack February 20. Cunningham said her father and sister will be at the December 1 event.
To RSVP for the free event, click here.
The day's commemorations will be bicoastal, too. Cunningham said that "the quilt will be on display on the South Lawn of the White House as our nation grapples with our future." A comment from the White House wasn't forthcoming by press time November 25.
Founded by the World Health Organization and the joint United Nations Programme on AIDS, World AIDS Day seeks to call attention to the global epidemic that has killed 36 million people since it was first discovered in 1981.
The WHO's theme this year is "Take the Rights Path: My Health, My Right!" as the organization hopes people focus on remaining health care disparities and inequities.
Former Pelosi aide to be honored
The night before, on Saturday, November 30, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., the AIDS grove's annual benefit, Light in the Grove, will return to the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Dan Bernal, a gay man living with HIV who's UCSF's vice chancellor for community and government relations and is the former local chief of staff of Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Bernal also served on the San Francisco Health Commission for many years.
"I am deeply honored to be receiving the Lifetime of Commitment Award from the National AIDS Memorial," Bernal stated to the B.A.R. "As a person living with HIV for more than 30 years, I know I wouldn't be alive today without the leadership of Speaker Emerita Pelosi, the courage and hard work of the researchers and clinicians at UCSF, and the community activism in San Francisco during the earliest days of the AIDS crisis.
"Like many long-term survivors, I feel gratitude as well as a responsibility to make my time meaningful and have an impact," he added.
Pelosi has been a staunch advocate of HIV/AIDS funding and has regularly volunteered at the AIDS grove's community days over the years.
Light in the Grove will be hosted by Sister Roma of the drag nun philanthropic group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence "to ensure all guests have a fabulous evening," Cunningham said.
Roma said she was very moved to emcee the evening.
"I am honored and thrilled to host Light in the Grove this year," Roma stated. "It's such a beautiful and important event supporting one of our city's most iconic treasures. I can't wait to share light and love with our community."
Tickets, starting at $300, are available on Eventbrite. This is the AIDS grove's main fundraiser; the nonprofit does not receive government funding.
Inscribe
The grove isn't the only place World AIDS Day will be commemorated. As the B.A.R. previously reported, there'll be chalk available on Castro Street for writing or drawing remembrances of people who've died from AIDS from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. December 1 as part of Inscribe, the brainchild of long-term survivor George Kelly, who's been putting on the event since 2015.
Kelly said that 25,000 people have died of HIV/AIDS-related conditions in San Francisco since 1981 when the then-mysterious infection first made itself apparent.
"Those people used to walk the sidewalks, work in the bars, the restaurants, shops," Kelly told the Castro Merchants at its November meeting. "It was very much a big loss to our community and so, on World AIDS Day, we remember all the people who died of AIDS and particularly celebrate the people who used to live in the Castro. ... We'll have festive disco music from our era, our generation. I invite you all to come out."
And Kelly is bringing a new generation on to help; Rhett Anderson, who is also gay, will be assisting with the event so it can continue for many years to come.
"Inscribe means a lot to me because, as a younger generation gay guy, I want to remember where we came from, how we got here," Anderson said. "When I was 17, I went to Planned Parenthood, I asked for HIV prevention, they gave me PrEP. So before I was even having sex, I already had the whole work George's generation gave us."
Nonprofit programming
On December 1, the AIDS foundation and The Reunion Project will be starting a storytelling anthology project with long-term HIV survivors. "We Live: Voices of the First Generation to Survive HIV/AIDS" will seek to preserve their stories.
"This project was borne out of a series of writing workshops SFAF conducted with long-term survivors in collaboration with activist and long-term survivor Cleve Jones," Crisostomo stated. (Jones is the co-founder of the AIDS quilt and a longtime gay activist.) "The stories that emerged in the workshops were insightful and incredibly moving — and Cleve observed that many accounts of how people survived and what they experienced during the height of the AIDS epidemic are oftentimes overlooked or left out of HIV and AIDS history and discussion. Each and every long-term survivor has their own story and experience, and they all deserve to be remembered, documented, and preserved for future generations."
People who want to learn more can do so at the foundation's website.
Additionally, "Focus on Living: Portraits of Americans with HIV and AIDS," a photography exhibition by San Francisco-based photographer Roslyn Banish, will open December 1 at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th Street, in the Castro. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibit runs through March.
"My goal has been to humanize HIV/AIDS, to get beyond the stereotypes and statistics," Banish stated. "In the end, I hope we are all more knowledgeable about the disease. I especially hope we are more compassionate and understanding of those brave souls who, despite enormous challenges, have managed to stay focused on the business of living."
The exhibition focuses on interviews and photographs from 1997 to 2002. There'll be a related film screening of "Red Reminds Me..." — a program of seven videos reflecting the emotional spectrum of those living with HIV today — Thursday, December 12, from 6 to 8 pm. It's open to the public
Admission to the museum is $10 for nonmembers but is free for members. For the screening, people can RSVP at the society's website, glbthistory.org.
Oakland
In Oakland, there'll be a World AIDS Day commemoration at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House, 568 Bellevue Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is "Putting People First: East Bay Communities on the Rise" and there will be performances, awards, and food. People can RSVP on Eventbrite.
The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center will be screening "Lost Holiday," starring Jussie Smollett, on December 1 at the Grand Lake Theater. The center stated on Instagram that all seats are full for the free event but there is a wait list in case seats become available.
There will also be a meet and greet with Smollett, a gay actor who was in the Fox television drama "Empire." Smollett's conviction for allegedly staging a racist attack against himself and lying to police about it in 2019 was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this month.
San Jose
In San Jose, there'll be a flag raising ceremony Wednesday, December 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the James P. McEntee Plaza located at 70 West Hedding Street, hosted by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and the Office of LGBTQ Affairs. The event is free and open to the public.
Starting next year, California will annually officially recognize World AIDS Day. As the B.A.R. previously reported, in June Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill by gay state Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) calling for the recognition. Whomever occupies the governor's office will proclaim each December 1 World AIDS Day.
Because the law goes into effect January 1, it will first be officially done on December 1, 2025.
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