Two events recently held in San Francisco's Castro district surely had Harvey Milk smiling down on the city's gay neighborhood.
Milk, the city's first openly gay elected leader, had his life tragically cut short by an assassin's bullet 37 years ago. Former Mayor George Moscone, another progressive leader, also was fatally shot that horrible morning by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White.
On the anniversary of their deaths last week, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club held the annual vigil and march to honor Milk and Moscone and the political values they held dear. Former San Francisco Supervisor Carol Ruth Silver, who served alongside the two men, told those gathered at this year's event that their policies didn't end with their deaths.
As efforts are underway nationwide to preserve and remember the LGBT community's history, we commend the Milk club leaders and those community members who participated in this year's vigil and march for taking time during their Thanksgiving vacations to commemorate the lives of men many in the crowd did not personally know.
It is one San Francisco tradition we hope will not fade with time, as Milk's famous dictum "you have to give them hope" is still relevant. His exhortation was aimed at providing young people, particularly LGBT youth, "Hope for a better world. Hope for a better tomorrow."
Thusly, Milk would certainly have been pleased to see schoolchildren from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, an elementary school in the heart of the Castro, using chalk to inscribe the names of those living with HIV and those lost to the AIDS epidemic on Castro Street sidewalks. The special event was one of many in the city commemorating World AIDS Day, held annually on December 1.
Having the next generation pay homage to a lost generation of gay men was a poignant sight that brought tears to many of the adults who participated or happened upon the event. The idea, by school volunteer George Kelly, a long-term survivor of HIV, was an inspired one, and the school community, from administrators and teachers to the parents and students, deserves credit for embracing it.
Remembering our collective past is how society learns to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future. As demonstrated by the students who wrote out the names of relatives and family friends, AIDS did not just devastate the gay community. It tore a hole in the heart of the entire city.
Amidst that grief and loss, however, San Franciscans showed true resilience and compassion as they rallied to support those diagnosed with HIV. And the city continues to be a beacon of hope in the effort to end the transmission of HIV within the lifetime of those children whose hands were coated in chalk dust.
Public health officials reported this week that the city's Getting to Zero strategy aimed at ending the transmission of HIV within San Francisco by 2030, along with HIV-related deaths and HIV stigma and discrimination, continues to show progress. Gay men are playing a large part in that success, with many HIV-negative sexually active men using pre-exposure prophylaxis, better known as PrEP, to ensure they do not become HIV-positive.
And as we report, HIV-positive men deserve large credit for abiding health officials' message to use antiretroviral treatment no matter their CD4 T-cell count and to stay in care.
Challenges remain, particularly with the care retention component of the city's three-pronged Getting to Zero strategy. As one local health official told us, "Retention is a monster that requires a huge amount of time and money."
The city has already set aside $1.2 million to fund the Getting to Zero plan, and we hope the financial support for the strategy continues to ensure its success. Achieving the goal of ending HIV transmission in San Francisco will truly be a proud day and Milk will be smiling down from above.