Greetings, South Florida! As Director of Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival, it is my honor to invite you back to Fort Lauderdale Beach, for the ninth year of the event of which I am so proud. Thanks to my good friends at South Florida Gay News, this handy insert has much of what you need to know to get involved with the Walk, as well as important information about what is happening on the big day. I hope you find it informative and enjoyable to read. In sitting down to write this letter to you, I’ve done a great deal of thinking about the journey that led me here. After five years as a Florida AIDS Walk Team Captain followed by four years as the Director of the event, I’ve shared many incredible experiences with members of our South Florida community. I’ve met inspiring crusaders who give of their time, money and talent in their commitment to the fight against AIDS; I’ve had sobering conversations with people who no longer believe that AIDS was still “an issue”; and I’ve been shocked by some of the cruelty and stigma that is still shown today to people who are bravely fighting the disease themselves, or working to stop the spread of the virus to others. The face of AIDS has changed a great deal, even in just the nine years that Florida AIDS Walk has been a part of our lives. Advances in medical research have begun introducing us to the idea that we will see vaccinations in our lifetime, or perhaps even a cure. Pharmaceuticals and new methods of treatment are being developed constantly, and for the most part, people with HIV are living longer, and staying healthier. In nine years, I’ve written more e-mails about HIV than I could ever count – asking for donations, asking you to ask for donations, and talking about the state of HIV/AIDS here at home in Florida. I’ve used phrases like “war on AIDS,” “the AIDS Crisis,” and “we are at Ground Zero for new HIV infection,” so often that, at times, they’ve lost their gravity for me. I wonder if, perhaps, the same has happened to us all. Our most recent statistics tell us that young gay men ages 18 to 35 are becoming newly infected again at a rate that is alarming high, and
continuing to rise. People who were too young to remember the earlier years of AIDS – when it was called “GRID,” which stood for Gay Related Immune Deficiency; or when there were no medications even around that could even affect the virus without destroying the body that housed it – seem to see HIV as an inconvenience, but one that is manageable by taking a daily pill. The frequency with which our community is having bareback sex – that is, sex without a condom – is on the rise again, despite the fact that condoms protect people from far more than just HIV. Because not as many of us know somebody who has died due to complications caused by AIDS, or at least died recently, we seem to be – as a community – exhaling instead of screaming; resting instead of fighting; and growing numb instead of remembering. Last week, I took a phone call from the mother of young woman who had been diagnosed with HIV, and then later committed suicide. Despite her mother’s attempts to bring her daughter into several agencies that would help her to obtain medication and try to manage the virus, her daughter felt overwhelmed and afraid. In a note that she left behind, she said that she couldn’t live “feeling dirty.” One of our own participants in the Florida AIDS Walk told me recently that his medication has stopped working over the last several months. His viral load is creeping upward as his T-cells are dropping, and he feels frightened in a way that he hasn’t in over ten years living as an HIV positive man. Because AIDS Healthcare Foundation promises “cutting edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay,” we get calls every day from people who can’t afford the ridiculous prices charged by pharmaceutical companies for the life-saving medications they desperately need. We always find a way to help them; but for every person who knows to call us, there are countless others who don’t… and go without. I am sharing all of this with you not to make you feel sad or guilty. In fact, I want for us more than ever to celebrate the life that is around us – the victories that we, our friends, and our loved ones have in our personal battles against AIDS; the hope that we feel when we read about the latest in HIV research and care; and the sense of belonging that we experience when we are surrounded by our
community at events like the Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival. There is much for which we can be thankful and feel joy. What I do ask is that you remember the people we’ve lost, and the countless, faceless others who are all around us that still need our help. YOU are their guardian angels. YOU are their saving grace. Be proud of what you do when you participate in the Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival, because you are the soldiers in the longest war we’ve ever known. One thing is certain: I know that I am proud of you, and I can’t wait to share that feeling with you on Fort Lauderdale Beach on March 30th at the ninth annual Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival. With love and gratitude,
Mark Martin
According to the Florida Department of Health’s January 2014 Monthly Surveillance Report, Broward County saw 1,043 new HIV infections in 2013, as well as 498 new AIDS diagnoses, which contribute to Florida’s statewide 2013 totals of 5,916 new HIV cases and 3,279 new AIDS cases. As of December 31, 2013, the department estimated that 104,181 Floridians were living with HIV/AIDS.