San Francisco, and the entire nation, has lost a true champion in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The death of Randy Allgaier last month leaves a hole that cannot be replaced. His legacy will live on forever.
I worked alongside Randy in the policy department at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation for many years. What I remember most about him was his passion for organizing the community of people living with HIV toward self-determination. He was committed to eliminating stigma surrounding HIV, so that people could fully express their romantic, professional, and civic lives. Randy was an open book, as his husband Lee Hawn says. He believed the best way to advocate for the normalization of both HIV and gay life was to live as openly as possible. His integrity and his work ethic were both exemplary and honorable.
After Randy left SFAF, he threw himself into volunteering. He took on key projects in Washington, D.C. with the National Association for People Living with AIDS. Among them, he fought to ensure proper care for people with AIDS who relied on Medicare Part D, or who were infected with hepatitis C. While doing work for the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief Coalition, Randy led the first community-based national survey of PWAs on their health care needs through the Ryan White CARE Act. The results of that groundbreaking survey were presented to the White House and the authorizing committees in both the House and the Senate. Randy also co-chaired the local Ryan White planning council, and chaired the national PWA caucus of CAEAR. We served together on the CAEAR board of directors for many years.
When Randy rightly decided he should get paid for at least some of the work he was doing as a volunteer, he took a job that was a perfect fit for his skills – staff to the San Francisco HIV Health Services Planning Council. He used all of his organizing, consensus building, advocacy, and community education skills to keep people well informed so they could make appropriate decisions. He made sure our citizens were in touch with the political scene locally and in Washington so they could understand the need to educate the mayor, the Board of Supervisors, the legislature, the governor, members of Congress, and the White House on issues surrounding HIV. He spoke for the many thousands of voiceless people living with HIV who still feel too much shame and stigma to speak for themselves.
Randy served on the coordinating committee of the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy from 2008 until his death. It was a crowning achievement in his illustrious career. Early in the NAS process, he helped to organize a community forum in San Francisco so that local voices played a key role in the Obama administration's plan. Randy was instrumental in a national consultation that produced key recommendations on HIV care and treatment for the plan. On July 13 of this year, President Barack Obama released the first-ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and it was one of the happiest days of Randy's life. He was invited to a White House reception and Randy was quick with his camera, snapping pictures of himself with key policy leaders. It was a wonderful occasion, and Randy should be given credit for helping to make the national strategy a reality.
Randy was one of the first people locally to raise attention to the emerging issue of HIV and aging, as more people are living longer with HIV disease. He worked to bring together the HIV/AIDS and adult services organizations in San Francisco in a joint workgroup on HIV and aging. That group hosted a policy briefing and community forum earlier this year, and produced a trailblazing paper entitled, "Addressing the Service Needs of PLWHA 50+," which sheds important light on the many complexities surrounding HIV and aging populations.
Randy was also a role model to gay and lesbian people who desire to get legally married. He was living the dream with his husband, sharing a home together with their beagle, Darwin.
Randy Allgaier was my colleague and my co-conspirator on many a policy initiative on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco and for people living with HIV/AIDS across this country. But most of all he was my friend, and I loved him dearly. I will miss him come the next battle.
Ernest Hopkins is director of legislative affairs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.