Sometimes when I go to brunch at Tweet, I look around at the festive atmosphere of Big Chicks (the gay bar owned by the same person), and I wonder what it was like to be there in the 80s and 90s when so many people were lost to the AIDS epidemic in America. My uncle died of AIDS in 1993, and, while I miss him terribly, I’m also glad that so many have been saved since then and that we continue to work together to end this epidemic.
My buddy Stacey helps run Epic Change, which is rebuilding and expanding a school in Tanzania that teaches orphans, including those that have lost their parents to AIDS. My friend Maude works for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, which helps raise money and awareness.
I work for Heartland Alliance, which tackles the epidemic by conducting AIDS policy research, providing housing and health care for those living with AIDS in America , caring for the mental well-being of women living with AIDS in Rwanda, and fundraising for all these worthy efforts through a celebration of art.
Here’s to ending the spread of AIDS, starting with a new administration that will support age-appropriate and medically accurate sexual education at home and abroad.