For the first time since 1988, the (current) American “government” is making like HIV/AIDS wasn’t/isn’t a thing – meaning an ongoing global pandemic – and, per the directive of the twice-impeached orange hemorrhoid, we are not to recognize or commemorate or even mention, if he had his way, World AIDS Day at the federal level.
Fuck that, and fuck him and his, and their fascistic ways.
Ya can’t cover the sun with a finger, and we cannot, will not pretend that HIV/AIDS hasn’t killed and continues to affect many human beings, queer and otherwise, here in America the country, America the continent, and all around the world. Just like we most definitely mustn’t ignore that all the recent cuts to funding research, life-preserving services, and prevention are as boneheaded as the initial reaction to the crisis back in the early 1980s, if not more since we know better now.
He cannot gag us.
He cannot deny the lives lost and endanger those who somehow survived and those who live and manage to thrive with this virus.
He will not become our community’s – the world’s, really – death sentence.
In a world with more and more Trumps (ew…why?), be a rebel with consistent heart…be like Madonna.
Watch We Were Here on The Criterion Channel.
And if you’re in San Francisco, wear some flowers in your head, and check out the art collection at Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill. Within it is the AIDS Interfaith Memorial Chapel, a sacred and welcoming spot that serves many needs. It’s a site of pilgrimage and only one of a handful of such chapels dedicated to people impacted by HIV/AIDS.
The first major furnishing obtained for the chapel was a casting of “The Life of Christ” (1990) by Keith Haring. The striking triptych altarpiece, one of the pop artist’s few religious pieces and his last completed work before his own death from AIDS that February, was obtained with the help of his friend Yoko Ono and local activist Frank Malifrando. Shaped like a Russian icon, it depicts a multi-armed figure of compassion bearing symbols of Christ’s life. Soaring ‘angels’ flank the figure, and a restless crowd of victims surges below.
Bear witness. Be an ally. Be decent. Be smart. Your health is my health is our health.
King of Cups 