30 Voices From The Past 30 Years, Part Five

The Advocate marked the fourth decade of the AIDS crisis by revisiting some of the people who have been there since day one:

"The first year of GMHC [Gay Men's Health Crisis] and the first four years of ACT UP were some of the most exciting years I have ever felt in my life. I have never felt such love, support, and energy among all of us fighting for common goals."

Author and activist Larry Kramer. August 17, 1999.
 

"Over time, while the pandemic has not left the GLBT community, it has vastly extended within the LGBT community and into other communities, including heterosexual women, the majority of whom are women of color."

Ana Oliveira, executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis. August 30, 2005.

 

"If we can create an engine called Microsoft that can put a computer in virtually every home in America, if we can create an engine called Nike that can put sneakers on the feet of people all over the world, then we have to begin to create engines--multibillion-dollar engines--that are addressing the great social causes of our time."

AIDS Ride founder Dan Pallotta. February 19, 2002.
 

"I wonder now as I look around me, Who is going to carry my torch?"

Television personality and AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, testifying before Congress. July 7, 1998.
 

"At the tender age of 41--a year longer than I once thought I would live--I have never felt better, HIV transformed my life, made me a better and braver writer, prompted me to write the first big book pushing marriage rights, got me to take better care of my health, improved my sex life, and deepened my spirituality."

Author and political pundit Andrew Sullivan. July 5, 2005.
 

"Not until same-sex relationships are fully recognized as equal to opposite-sex relationships; not until a gay or bisexual soldier's sacrifice is equal to that of a straight soldier; not until we put an end to the chipping away of a young boy's self-esteem by bullying in the school yard; not until there is a time when the concern is not who we love but that we love will the stigma of HIV/AIDS fade. And only then will our nation do all it can to finally put an end to a disease that so significantly impacts gay and bisexual men and people of color."

A joint statement by Dr. Marjorie J. Hill, chief executive officer of Gay Men's Health Crisis; Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and Paul Kawara, executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council. October 1, 2010.