The First of December Is World AIDS

THE FIRST OF DECEMBER IS WORLD AIDS DAY

BY PAUL MASTERSON

This year’s World AIDS Day, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, takes place in the shadow of another pandemic, this one caused by the COVID-19 virus. There are similarities in the history and impact of both on the LGBTQ community and the community at large. One can point to the slow government response and the confounding reality of experts giving dire warnings to a skeptical public only to be ignored or scoffed at, while, as the saying goes, “the band played on.” That is, until the pandemic spread and began affecting those who believed themselves immune.

There are positive lessons to be learned from the LGBTQ community’s response to HIV/AIDS. In the early days, while the political leadership joked about gay people dropping dead from the unknown virus, activists protested, fundraised, improvised a support system and held the hands of the dying. The lesson learned was elementary. As I recently heard someone put it, “A community united in a monumental effort can achieve extraordinary things.”

My own entry into the world of LGBTQ activism began in 1995. I volunteered to work a gala fundraiser Make-a-Promise Dinner and Auction for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW, today known as Vivent Heath). I began as chair of the auction and would later take on the additional role as co-chair of the event. That was the typical trajectory of many volunteers of the time. Many remained engaged with ARCW, others went off and founded support groups. Aside from controlling the pandemic and minimizing its impact, our demographically diverse components—the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people—would rally around the common cause and evolve into the LGBT community.

STRIKING ACHIEVEMENTS

In the meantime, HIV/AIDS has become a manageable disease. While a cure has yet to be found, science caught up with the pandemic and, eventually, research provided the therapeutic treatments that made a once death-sentence diagnosis into a mere nuisance. According to the 2019 Wisconsin HIV Surveillance Report released by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the state’s current infection rate is 75% less per year than in 1990, and it is the lowest among our neighboring states. According to a 2017 report published by the then-ARCW, Wisconsin had the lowest mortality rate in the country. The state’s striking achievements in the battle against HIV/AIDS are directly attributable to that united response and especially to the organization that became Vivent Health. Established in the early 1980s, the organization has become a model health facility, offering comprehensive care, prevention service, care and treatment for those affected by HIV/ AIDS. Even in these pandemic times, Vivent Health continues to provide a large range of services.

The fight still continues, however, with stigma, disparities in health service accessibility and education remaining major issues to address in order to reduce HIV infection. While a cure has yet to be found, there is hope for a future without HIV/AIDS.

That brings us to today’s COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully, we’ll embrace a common effort to confront and control the current calamity, just like we did before.

Paul Masterson is an LGBTQ activist and writer and has served on the boards of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, Milwaukee Pride, GAMMA and other organizations.