Honoring the AIDS epidemic during STD Awareness Month

A lost generation creates disparities in AIDS activism

Two words were used to encompass the decade of death, injustice, and sorrow that followed the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in June of 1981.

“It was truly a lost generation,” said Avi Critz, the LGBTQ Community Lead at Stepping Stone, an adult day health care center based in San Francisco.

Surrounded by a close-knit group of queer elders, Critz explained how his workplace was truly a sanctuary: preserving a generation that experienced an unmatched trauma.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), from 1981 through 1990, 100,777 people died in the United States due to AIDS/HIV. Of this population, 59% were homosexual/bisexual men. In essence, AIDS had come close to wiping out an entire generation of queer Americans.

With April marking STD Awareness Month, English teacher Allen Frost, who co-leads the 11th grade AIDS activism trip with, reflected on the tragedy’s present-day implications: how might the mass mortality manifest in the younger LGBTQ generations?

“It's [generational loss] definitely shaped disparities in AIDS acitivsm,” Frost said.

The crisis formed jarring generational divisions, Frost explained. Naturally, many young activists are drawn to the problems that more immediately apply to themselves. Thus, with the majority of the generation dead, unable to lead the youth, apparent differences in activist intent have formed between the queer generations.

Yet before separation, the epidemic brought a sense of unity to queer people.

Frost highlighted the shared experience of oppression during this time period that brought together specifically gay men and lesbian women, stating “the government sees you as all the same which is to say you are perverts deserving of death.” This precedence, of the LGBTQ community as a whole, has preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as Antiretroviral Therapy for the disease’s treatment, render AIDS an afterthought for many young queer people. This experience, starkly different from its more archaic forms, has led AIDS activism to lose its oncebooming prominence.

As a result of these disparities, Frost explained, “Gay men have grown up not knowing what HIV/AIDS has done to queer history.” Additionally, not only do they fail to recognize a history, but also the ongoing international battle; as of July 2022, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of global HIV cases, followed by Asia and the Pacific Islands.

While the disease has seemingly lost its spotlight among the majority of younger generations, Queer Student Union (QSU) Lead Alyse G-M. ’24 expressed the nature of AIDS activism’s presence in the Nueva Community.

“While it’s something we’re conscious of, we don’t always prioritize it,” Alyse said. “It’s not something that most of us deal with, but in reality, it’s a problem.” of the Plague Years (1981-1996).

To solve this problem, Alyse wants to take action by using QSU to bring community-wide AIDS/HIV awareness.

“Through education and fundraising at Nueva we’ll do a better job of making sure it’s not swept under the rug and ignored,” Alyse said.

Micah B. ’23, who took this trip last year, noted that their favorite part of the trip was meeting Peter Staley, an American political activist known for their involvement in the ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) movement, storming the 1989 International AIDS Conference in Montreal to release the first Treatment and Data report calling for easier access to AIDS drugs.

“I do Project 80 and XRT and I used to do DATAS, so science communication is important to me,” Micah said. “Seeing someone who has built up their scientific literacy skills to save lives made me think this was something that I could do myself.” fundamentally shaped the way recent generations view their collective identities. Although the epidemic effectively united the once disparate queer community on the basis of their identity, the introduction of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), an antiviral drug

While Nueva’s community continues to brew with the onset of change in the younger generation’s AIDS Activism, outside of our school lies an unsolved epidemic, waiting upon the voices of youth to cut through the silent air.

For students outside of QSU, Allen Frost's 11th grade AIDS activism trip provides opportunities to learn from a more historical perspective. The trip provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the ongoing impact of AIDS in New York City, as well as the cultural history

Advocating for mental health, stitch by stitch

Non-profit business arises from Quest, a used embroidery machine, and a passion for mental health advocacy

STORY Isabelle S.

PHOTO Marcus H.

For hours, the two young entrepreneurs sat by the used embroidery machine they had just bought off eBay, toying with the various buttons and carefully embroidering three yellow daisies—their signature design. Little did they know, those yellow daisies would soon reach across the country.

When sophomores Marcus H. and Liv R. thought of starting a business last summer, the idea was only a “fantasy.”

“We always said, ‘we should get an embroidery machine and make a little business’ but we never took that seriously until Quest came,” Marcus recalled.

So in September of 2022, the two founded StitchedUp, a nonprofit embroidery business. They plan to donate all proceeds to nonprofits such as Letters Against Oppression, which supports those battling mental illness through handwritten letters, and The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention efforts among the LGBTQ+ community.

“Mental health is the most prevalent issue in our lives and closely related to us and the community,” Liv said. “We wanted to support teens struggling with mental health and provide resources because it’s everywhere and some people may not have the resources to get help.”

The duo spent the fall semester ideating, gathering materials, and learning how to embroider. On the first day of 2023, they embroidered their first design: their business name accompanied by their signature daisies on a black hoodie. Seven days later, they dropped their first product.

“We had just started an Etsy shop and Instagram and we didn’t really know where it would go or the scale it would turn into,” Liv said. “Even now, we’re still trying to figure that out.”

So when they saw addresses tracing to Massachusetts and Texas on two of their orders, Liv and Marcus were elated.

“It was an insane moment,” Liv said. “It was nice to see the impact we could eventually make all over the country.”

And while it was “unreal” to receive orders from across the country, Marcus’ favorite moments remain making the orders with Liv.

“I’d drive over to [Liv], we’d work together, and sometimes get dinner too. It’s definitely brought us closer together,” he said. “And when we see those orders, it’s like, ‘hey, we did that.’”

Seeing their business grow, Liv