I Didn't Say It.....

Angelina Jolie, on how she and Brad Pitt have no desire to expand their family:

"No, I think it's very important to give our children the individual attention they need now before expanding our family. You try to feel them, because at different times, different children need you, you must find the time to listen to them. Brad and I are also really lucky because between the two of us, we can spread the attention around."

Um, Angie?
Yeah, howsabout asking Brad to spread some of that attention around, say, here?
I mean, you don't have to adopt me for Brad to be my daddy, really.

Barney Frank, on the chances for passage of the 'DADT' repeal:

"If the House has voted by majority to repeal it, the President thinks it should be repealed, the Senate majority is for repealing, the only thing that saves it is this abusive filibuster, then I think any claim that he has to defend it in court disappears. It has no more, any moral force, let the people who filibustered try to defend it in court."

I think it's gonna get contentious, y'all, with the Republicans once again playing small-minded child and doing nothing until they get their way.

See, for them, it isn't about conscience or value or equality, it's about protecting their base, the richest Americans, and everything else just doesn't matter.

Larry Kramer, on Barack Obama:

"Mr. Do-Nothing Obama will say today ‘Lets think of all the poor dead people’- or ‘let’s honor all the dead’ instead of fighting for the living. He has been really useless in terms of both HIV and gay issues. An exceedingly large disappointment to me, how useless he has been. He is simply not a leader. He may be president, but he is not a leader."

As yet another World AIDS Day has come and gone, Kramer has a point.

Obama is a good speaker; we've heard the speeches. But speeches don't save lives, speeches rarely spark change.

Be fierce, Mr. President, like you promised.

Stephen Reinhardt, judge, on the motion to ask him to recuse himself from the Prop H8 trial:

“... I have before me defendants-intervenors-appellants’ motion to disqualify myself from this appeal. I have not hesitated to recuse from cases in the past when doing so was warranted by the circumstances.... Here, for reasons that I shall provide in a memorandum to be filed in due course, I am certain that “a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would [not] conclude that [my] impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” ...I will be able to rule impartially on this appeal, and I will do so. The motion is therefore DENIED....”

Now, I know it didn't happen this way, but I like to picture Judge Reinhardt sitting in his chambers, writing his response to this motion, and then giving two snaps up, and saying, gleefully, "Deeeee-nied!"

Anderson Cooper, on Lady Gaga getting him drunk during their interview:

"We actually ended up that day in a pub in London drinking Jameson, which I don't really drink. So she got me to drink like two of them, and by the end I was ready to have the interview be over because I really sort of couldn't ask any more questions."

Note to self:

Get ticket to New York

Buy case of whiskey

Look for Randy Andy.

Two drinks and he'll be like putty in my hands. Well, hopefully not like actual putty.

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips, on who should be allowed to vote:

"The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you're a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners."

This sounds good, because the single mother with two kids living in an apartment and working tweo jobs just to keep food on the table doesn't have a vested interest in America.

And while you're at it, you fucknut, why not say that the people that own the most property get the most votes.

Keith Urban, on entering rehab just four months after he married Nicole Kidman:

"[I thought], 'Surely let's give it a few years so we've got some solidity, because this kind of thing could tear us apart. This could just destroy us... [but] it was really a profound moment in so many ways. The way in which Nic handled that moment was just perfect...Everything was just designed, I believe, for that moment to fuse us together... I had to make a decision which road I was going to take, once and for all. I'd been at that crossroads before and always taken the wrong road... I look back now and realize Nic has taught me so much and brought so much into my life and opened my eyes in so many ways...[This is] the best place I've ever been."

It's nice to know that Kidman didn't walk away, and it's nice to know that Urban finally realized it was time to stop.

Johnny Depp, on the alleged sexual orientation of Captain Jack Sparrow:

“I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, ‘He’s ruining the movie.’ Upper-echelon Disney-ites, going, What’s wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?… And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite… ‘But didn’t you know that all my characters are gay?’ Which really made her nervous.” 

Well, Edward Scissorhands was gay. And when you watch a Depp movie now, think of his characters as a wee bit light in their loafers. It'll make for a whole new film experience. 

Song In My Head

As I have said before, I wake up every single day with a song in my head, and, being a big show queen, it's usually a showtune. So, I was pleasantly surprised when this morning I was up singing.....

Just For Giggles

Top Chef All Stars: Hair Today.......

We're back. With the All-Stars and their egos.

The Quickfire found the teams pairing up by season to create a dish that best represented their season's host city. Richard, Antonia, Dale T and Spike went all Chicago, with homemade sausage dogs and, thanks to Richard, Mustard Gelato. And they won the quickfire, which gave all of them immunity in the first elimination challenge, which was a doozy.

For Elimination, the chef's had to remake the dish that got them sent home. Yes, the worst thing they made had to be redone, with tweaks, but still the same dish. I was scared because some of them made crap before getting knifed.

First, however, let's meet the cheftestants and hear what they think of themselves:

Jennifer Carroll: Season Six, Final Four:

She tells us that she's a "strong, competent, aggressive woman," which, translated, means, bitch...but in a good way. I think. I do know she was quite the task master in the kitchen during her season: "I'd rather talk about the food."

She ain't playing.

The dish that sent her packing during her season was duck, and, well, tough as she is, the judges and the other chefs felt she fell short.

Jennifer, who thinks she's the greatest, is middle of the pack. But there's attitude there, and Richard thinks she's good, so, maybe we'll watch her.

Tiffany Derry: Season Seven, Top Five:

She says she is "happy to be among the chosen."

And I'm happy she's among the chosen.
I love me some Tiffany. i love the fact that she's the nice one; even when she sat with the judges and ate some of the other chef's food, and criticized it, you could tell she wasn't trying to be mean. She's just nice.

But does nice get further than Top Five? I somehow doubt it.
So, I think she oughta stay nice, but get tough.

Her do-over dish was halibut and, well, it was overcooked. And over salted.
Overdone, and not nice.

Tiffani Faison: Season One, Finalist:

She is "known for being incredibly competent" although her former competitors called her a snake and a bitch.

In fact, one of my favorite lines from all Top Chef's was the one directed at her: I'm not your bitch, bitch.

Uh-huh.
And one of my other favorite things from her season was when she used another chef's dessert recipe in the finale and took credit for it when the judges said they loved it. They even called her on it, and she talked her way out of it.

Snake. Bitch. Or at least she plays one on TV.

She redid something called a Branzino and it was deemed 'different' by the diners, which really isn't a good sign.

Carla Hall: Season Five, Finalist: "Hootie Hoo!"

I am so Team Carla. J'adore her.
I just hope she doesn't get bullied into doing something she doesn't want to do, because that's what happened last time. Carla needs to be Carla and she can just hootie hoo past everyone else.

See, for the finale of her season, Casey was brought back to help Carla, and she suggested Carla suve some beef. Well, that seemed to have cost Carla the win. This time, she's cooking her food, her way. Tiffani found it interesting, which Carla took as the kiss of death, while Angelo got a nerve ending and was horrified.

"Hootie.......WTF?"

Mike Isabella: Season Six, Top Seven:

"I came back to cook, show you what i got, it's show time, ready to rock'n'roll."
Well, now if this was Top Cliche, I'd say we have a winner, but Mike is still a dick, and an ass, and, I'll say it, he got fat.

Mike braised leeks again, because his losing dish was all-vegetarian, which as we know is what he cooks best and most and....yeah. His retry was called a good revamp.

Mike thinks that means he'll win.

I think it means he needs to eat more vegetables because he got fat.
I don't like Mike. Still.

Jamie Lauren: Season Five, Top Seven:

"I'm here to kick ass."
And even with her new, soft sexy hair and new soft sexy hair color, I think she could kick ass.

Literally. I'ma scurred'a her.
The dish that got her Knifed was the time she has to match a dish created by Anthony Bourdain: Black Bass with Braised Celery.
The first time out it was awful, salty horrors, but this time out she met with success. Even Bourdain liked it, and we know he doesn't mince words.
Garlic he'll mince, words, not so much.


Dale Levitski: Season Three, Finalist:

"I don't wanna make any mistakes." Dale's bulked up a bit since last we saw him.

Dale's representing the LGBT community this season on Top Chef, though some others I suspect of trending homosexual, or maybe I'm just dreaming that they trend like that.

Anyway....

His second chance dish was a curry pouched lobster, which everyone agreed was good, but he served it alongside a pasty dumpling, and, No, by pasty dumpling I don't mean Mike Isabella.

Mike Isabella got fat.

Antonia Lofaso: Season Four, Final Four:

"I'm gonna beat Spike only because it's his karma."

Nice, Antonia, but what about the other sixteen chefs? You can't go after Spike and ignore the rest.

Antonia better shift her focus because I like her. She's no Carla but she's good, and she's fair...which, come to think of it, don't make for good reality television.

Come on, Antonia, strap on some bitchitude. Hang out with Jennifer and Tiffani and see how that works for you.

She remade a sausage dish with cilantro, which was called fresh and tasty by the other chefs and the judges, but we all know fresh and tasty doesn't get you the cash.

It gets you a job at Red Lobster.

Dale Talde: Season Four, Top Six:

"That's bull sh*t....f*ck!"

Some things never change! Dale never met a four-letter word he didn't like, or a locker he didn't want to punch. I'm sort of hoping for a Cage Match between Dale and Jamie; that'd be fun.

Oh Dale, of the Butterscotch and Miso Scallops which Anthony Bourdain called something like a candy bar, and not in a good way. How does one remake Butterscotch scallops to taste good? Less butterscotch apparently. And it worked, because Bourdain said, upon being force fed the dish out of fear, that Dale succeeded; that he "unf*cked" the dish.

Bourdain and Dale share a love for the profane; as do I.

Casey Thompson: Season Three, Finalist:

Casey didn't really get an opening line, though it was made quite clear that all the guys, the gay and the straight, want to share a room with her. And I get it.

Casey did, seemingly, get the glamour treatment before her Top Chef All Stars photo shoot, and they decided to go Farrah on her hair. Not a good look Casey.

You're the Jen Aniston girl, and, yes, you still have that Jen Aniston thing going on, even though Jen Aniston doesn't have it any more. She's the girl next door, who can cook better than most of the guys who are too busy thinking about Casey under the sheets rights now.

Big mistake. Huge.

Casey's overcooked pork belly was given a second chance, and this time she proved successful. Not enough for the winner's circle, but enough to stay...bunked with the guys.

Marcel Vigneron: Season Two, Finalist:

He believes he's "seen as a threat" though most people agree that he's still a little prick.

It's been eight years or so since we've seen Marcel, and his hair hasn't changed and his ego hasn't changed. Once a prick.....yada yada yada.

Marcel might be a good chef, but I think he's too busy trying to be Marcel The Reality Star to actually prove it.

He got a do-over on Uni and Caviar, and was called out for too much vanilla by Tre--sidenote: Vanilla? No.--but Bourdain said Marcel had balls, which I'm thinking that he'll serve up sometime during the season, with a foam of some sort.

Foam balls?

Tre Wilcox:; Season Three, Top Eight: 

"I ain't playin' around this mother f*cker!" And he doesn't look like he will, either.

First off, he's a hunk. With those dimples and that smile. I'm kinda hoping he'll bunk with Dale, you know, for a little bromance thing. I mean, I can dream, can't I?

Other than that, I don't remember much about Tre from his season, and his season was Miami and I lived in Miami and he had those dimples and.....I just forgot him.

Tre cured a salmon the night he went home, but I think he cured it of tasting good, so he had to try it again.

It was good. Not great.

I think Dale should comfort him. Let me close my eyes and think on that.......

Richard Blais: Season Four, Finalist:

"I feel like I choked" in the finals, and he's back for redemption.

Blais had dropped some weight, and even with the faux hawk, he's looking cute. I know he's married with children, but he has a HGN--Hot Gay Nerd--thing going on.

And, in addition, he's the one to beat, I think. He should have won in his season but he just blew it there at the end, so I'm hoping he goes all the way....until Hootie Hoo's him away.

His retread of pork belly won him high praise indeed, and he might well have won--even though he had Quickfire immunity--except they caught him on film still plating when time ran out, so he was disqualified from the win.

The judges ain't playin', y'all.

Spike Mendelsohn: Season Four, Top Five:

"I was a little kitchen rat before the show" and now he's a big kitchen rat.

Spike is the attitude, good or bad, and he isn't above game-playing to win this thing. He can be annoying, but annoying makes for good TV; take note, Antonia.

Spike used frozen scallops in his last episode, and was frozen out of the win. But this time he opted to mask all taste of the frozen food--which Antonia thought was sneaky, or unfair, or cheating, or something....she doesn't like Spike.

But Bourdain called Spike a "crafty motherf*cker."

Bourdain will be beeped all season long.

Angelo Sosa: Season Seven, Finalist:

He's "back for redemption" with a suitcase full of Advil, so he won't get "sick" again.

Ramen. Really? He was sent home for Ramen? I mean, don't you just peel back the lid, pour in hot water, let rest for five minutes and eat it? How hard it that?

I've done that.

And it obviously wasn't that hard at all because Angelo's ramen won top prize this week.

And, was it just me, or does Angelo seem more humble this time around? I mean, and I'm just throwing this out there, perhaps his mail-order bride knocked the ego outta him.

Stephen Asprinio: Season One, Top Five:

He says he's a "hospitality entrepreneur" but I think he should be a chef; I don't hold out much hope for Stephen.

Poor Stephen. He isn't a chef; he doesn't even call himself a chef, so why is he here?

But he is, and he is charged with remaking three appetizers that he didn't even make in the episode where he got Knifed. See, he didn't make them, because instead of cooking on the cooking competition show, he was out explaining wine service to the staff.

And this time around his food, made this time by his own hand, sucked.

I so wanted him and his ties and pressed pants and attitude to get the Knife....literally.

Fabio Viviani: Season Five, Final Four:

"I'm like the underdog....Italian dog.....good one."

He gave a second chance to a crawfish stew, but for some reason he served it on paper with fried basil, so it was confusing. Eat the basil? Write a letter on the paper? Everyone seemed to hate it, but Bourdain went off on it, and Fabio wasn't having it. He called Bourdain out on it at the table, and then again at Judges Table.

Criticize his food, but don't make fun of it.

At least that's what I think he said in that dreamy accent of his. I would like to him to read some gay romance novels while Tre and Dale bunk together.

Are you listening Bravo? That's a show!

Elia Aboumrad: Season Two, Final Four:

"I will win."

And hopefully not lose her hair this time. Or her head. or her talent. Or her shot at the win.

She was trying again with red snapper steamed in tea leaves, but she opted not to change it up at all, and just serve it like she served it the night she was eliminated. Well, she changed one thing, she served the fish raw....not just medium, but raw.

And she was Knifed for it.

Which made me sad because I liked Elia and I wanted Stephen gone.

 Still, this season looks hot, and cold, and foamed, and suve'd and all that stuff. What did you think?

You Voted 'Em In.......

It looked promising, there, for a moment, but mere hours after Democrats and Republicans agreed to bargain on tax cuts, and just minutes after Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to repeal DADT this year, it was discovered that the Republicans weren't having it. Any of it.

Remember how angry they were two years ago when the Democrats swept into power and they turned into the Party of No? Remember how they voted against everything Democratic without offering their own solutions?

Well, they're at it again.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid received a letter written by Senate Minority Leader and Senate Minority Fucktard Mitch McConnell, and signed by all 42 Republicans, stating that the GOP will block any and all debate on every single bit of legislation until the Bush tax cuts--once again, the tax cuts for the richest Americans, most of them Republicans--are extended. See, they won't do anything until the rich get richer.

Sounds like they screwed the Tea Party, after months of putting their GOP lips firmly against teabagger sphincter.

The letter reads:

"[W]e write to inform you that we will not agree to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to any legislative item until the Senate has acted to fund the government and we have prevented the tax increase that is currently awaiting all American taxpayers. With little time left in this Congressional session, legislative scheduling should be focused on these critical priorities. While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate's attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's response:

"My Republican colleagues...know that the true effect of this letter is to prevent the Senate from acting on many important issues that have bipartisan support. With this letter, they have simply put in writing the political strategy that the Republicans pursued this entire Congress: Namely, obstruct, delay action on critical matters, and then blame the Democrats for not addressing the needs of American people. Very cynical, but very obvious. Very transparent."

So, when you think that they are there to work for you, understand that they are not. They are there to insure that the rich stay rich, and everyone else stays just where there are today.
That's your GOP, people. Aren't you thrilled you voted them in?

source

One Of My My Heroes

Fifty-five years ago today, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger.

On this day, December 1, 2010, World AIDS Day, maybe we can take a page from Rosa's handbook, and as a community, of LGBT men and women, and LGBT-friendly men and women, refuse to take a back seat to anyone, anywhere, any time, ever, until we are all treated equally.

HIV/AIDS By The Numbers

These latest statistics of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic were published by UNAIDS in November 2010, and reflect the numbers at the end of 2009:

• 33,300,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS
• 30,800,00 adults are living with HIV/AIDS
• 15,900,000 women are living with HIV/AIDS
• 2,500,000 children are living with HIV/AIDS
• 2,600,000 people are newly infected with HIV
• 2,200,000 adults are newly infected with HIV
• 1,800,000 AIDS deaths in 2009
• 16,600,000 children are now orphans due to AIDS in 2009

 Sub-Saharan Africa carries the greatest burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with some 68% of the population living with HIV.
Epidemics in Asia have remained relatively stable and are still largely concentrated among high-risk groups.
Conversely, the number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has almost tripled since 2000.

source

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.

30 Voices From The Past 30 Years, Part Four

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

"In 1986, when a great number of people that I knew had already died and were infected, I just assumed that I was infected also, because I couldn't imagine why I wouldn't have been. Finally, I had the courage to go and get the test, which was one of the scarier moments of my life. I found out that I was HIV-negative. At first I didn't understand it, and then i felt guilty because so many friends of mine were dealing with this issue and I had been released from this burden. After a period of time, I thought, I'm a very lucky man, and I have to show up in this problem, not because I'm fighting for my own life but because I have to be a part of this fight. I've been extraordinarily fortunate in many ways, and I want to be a part of the solution."

Producer and philanthropist David Geffen. December 29, 1992.
 

"Slick Willie, the Republicans were right. We should never have trusted you. You are doing nothing while we die. One year later, lots of talk, but no action. Bill, while me and my community are dying in ever-increasing numbers, all you do it talk."

ACT UP member Luke Montgomery [Luke Sissyfag], who interrupted a speech by President Bill Clinton at an AIDS ward at Georgetown University Medical Center. January 25, 1994.
 

"I heard this big, hollow thud, and then I found myself in the water. I just held my head in the hopes... I [didn't] know if I was cut or not. But I wanted to keep the blood in, or just not let anybody touch it. Dealing with HIV was really difficult for me because I felt like, God, thee US Olympic Committee needs to know about this. But I didn't anticipate hitting my head on the board. That's where I became paralyzed with fear."Olympian Greg Louganis, telling Barbara Walters about his diving accident during the 1988 games. March 21, 1995.

 

"I remember complaining, 'Why isn't anybody doing anything? Why isn't anyone raising money?' And it struck me like lightning: 'Wait a second, I'm not doing anything.' So with the help of several other people, we put on the first-ever gay benefit here, the Commitment to Life. Betty Ford was the guest of honor, and it took about a year to put together. I've never heard so many nos in my life. Oh, my God,m it was unbelievable! Nobody in this town wanted to know or be a part of it. They said, 'No, this is one where you want to stay away from.There's a stigma.' I didn't even know that Rock Hudson was sick yet. i found that out two or three months after i was involved."

Actress and activist Elizabeth Taylor. October 15, 1996.
 

"[As gay men] we're conditioned to think we're always at risk for HIV. I know that anytime I've gone for an HIV test, I always worry, even if I don't engage in unsafe sexual behavior or inject drugs."

Jose Zuniga, a volunteer for a 1997 live-virus HIV vaccine trial. November 25, 1997.
 

"If my story can help people--anybody at all--it is positive. I've always tried to help people, whether it be as a gay man, or a Mexican-American or now, someone who is HIV-positive."

1996 national champion figure skater Rudy Galindo. May 9, 2000.

30 Voices From The Past 30 Years, Part Three

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

"I wanted to do something about AIDS through the eyes of the gay community. There was nothing else out there, and people kept saying, 'Why is this still a taboo subject?'"

Lindsay Law, executive producer of the film Longtime Companion. May 8, 1990.
 

"Remember that someday the AIDS crisis will be over. And when that day has come and gone, there will be people alive--gay and straight people, black and white people, men and women--who will hear that once there was a terrible disease and that a brave group of people stood up and fought and in some cases died so others might live and be free. I'm proud to be with the people I love--those who are fighting this war--and to be a part of that fight. And after we kick the shit out of this disease, I intend to be alive to kick the shit out of this system so that it will never happen again."

Film critic, author, and GLAAD cofounder Vito Russo at the October 1988 ACT UP FDA protest. December 18, 1990.
 

"I hear people say, 'Oh, gee, wasn't that horrible then?' but it's just as horrible now. It's just on a grander scale. Instead of spending $20 million, we spend $2 billion, but instead of having 10,000 cases we have 200,000 cases."

Randy Shilts, former Advocate staffer and author of And The Band Played On. June 15, 1993.
 

"I tell people when I go out to speak that no matter how people got this virus, we've got to open our arms up to everybody--not just to me because I'm heterosexual. Until you're able to educate society--not just about AIDS and HIV, but about gays and stuff--they're always going to do and say stupid things."

Retired basketball player and philanthropist Magic Johnson. April 21, 1992.
 

"For those with HIV, never despair, never give up, because things are happening all the time, because we will get there someday, and it could be sooner than some of us dare to expect."

Mathilde Krim, founding chairman of amfAR. November 16, 1993.
 

"I've lost incredible numbers of people. I'm to the point where I don't even remember who's alive anymore... Some days I just assume everybody's dead. I went through a one-year period where I'd say that i just don't have anyone I love anymore. I had one friend whose ashes are buried in my backyard. I've done four quilts, and that's just for people no one else had done it for."

Actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein. October 8, 1991.

30 Voices From The Past 30 Years, Part Two

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

"Mr. Reagan, did you explain...that sometimes ignorant people act is such a way [toward people with AIDS] that is frightening... How long is it going to take before people get smart...educated people? We're not talking about illiterate people. We're talking about senators and congressmen and the fucking president."

Actress Whoopi Goldberg, speaking at the 1987 March On Washington. November 10, 1987.
 

"Now I deal regularly with the phenomenon of young men who come up after a concert, with tears in their eyes, and say, 'I just want to thank you.' And without them saying it, I know they've had a friend who has died of AIDS."

Folksinger and songwriter Joan Baez. August 18, 1987.
 

"It's so beautiful. I think it is a strengthening and empowering statement of hope and remembrance. If people come away from here with anything, I want it to be love. I want people who come here to understand that even as this epidemic continues, we're loving people, we take care of each other, and we've got the strength and the will to beat this disease."

Activist Cleve Jones at the launch of the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the 1987 March On Washington. November 10, 1987.
 

"At first, I waited politely for the president to respond to the epidemic.... After about a year, I realized the government wasn't going to do anything, so I started doing safer-sex education with community-based AIDS organizations. By 1985, it was becoming clear that we needed to take this a step further, that civil disobedience would be as important as caregiving if we wanted real change."

Waiyde Palmer, an activist who helped organize and AIDS protest during the 1989 San Francisco Opera performance of Falstaff.
 

"What we don't need is another study. What we need is leadership, and...once again, the president is hiding."

US representative Henry Waxman, a longtime critic of President Ronald Reagan's inaction on AIDS. September 13, 1988.
 

"Now that I've resigned myself to living, how am I going to make something of it? There's a question I ask myself and ask of everybody who is struggling to heal themselves, everybody who is dealing with AIDS, dealing with being gay, dealing with this painful world: 'Where is your passion? Why do you love, and what are you doing about it?'"

Choreographer Bill T. Jones. February 27, 1990.

30 Voices From The Past 30 Years, Part One

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

"We are seeing the beginning of a major epidemic of cancer. The disease happens to be occurring in the gay community, but what is really relevant is whatever conditions are causing Kaposi's [sarcoma]. We are very concerned to head off a panic."

Alvin Friedman-Kien, MD, of the NYU Medical Center, August 20, 1981

"So far, no one knows with certainty what causes the fatal new diseases. Homosexuals, one person in a monogamous relationship and not the other, even infants have succumbed. Yet many cases are centered in the gay men';s community, especially in New York City. Most of us who know a lot of gay men also know one or more who have died. Living with this situation feels a bit like it must have felt to be alive when the plague was decimating the population of Europe."

David Goodstein, president of Liberation Publications, publisher of The Advocate, in a letter to readers. January 20, 1983.

"Two and a half years ago, my friends wondered why I was doing this."

Lynn Paleo, who worked with the San Francisco AIDS Foundations, in a feature about lesbians' involvement in AIDS activism. October 14, 1986.

"AIDS is a sex-related disease, and we in the religious community have not gotten our act together on sexuality."

The Reverend Carl Flemister, executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York, discussing the spread of HIV. April 2, 1985.

"My volunteer life at this point is limit4ed exclusively to health education against contracting AIDS. We've been deluged with threats and the worst possible hype--media hype--about the dangers of AIDS. Yet there have been very few sound voices coming through saying, 'Yes, times are tough, and they may get worse, but we can do something about it.' That's what I'm trying to do."

Actress Zelda Rubenstein on her involvement in an early AIDS awareness ad campaign. June, 10, 1986.

"When confronted with our own mortality, it has become common in our community to have our bodies cremated and our ashes thrown to the four winds. But with the wind goes an important part of our history. And also an important part of our future. I ask you to consider the ramifications of this action on tomorrow's generation of lesbians and gays as they search for self-esteem. As a person with AIDS, I have thought about this a great deal. I believe that we must be the same activists in our deaths that we were in our lives. I urge those of you who are facing death to find a method of leaving a lasting record of our accomplishments--including the acknowledgement that you were lesbian or gay."

Activist and former Air Force sergeant Leonard Matlovich. June 23, 1987.

Today Is World AIDS Day

And in South Carolina........

December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day of remembering those who lost this battle and honoring those living with HIV. In South Carolina, on this 2010 World AIDS Day, there are more than 250 people on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program [ADAP] waiting list due to inadequate funding. The S.C. HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force is reaching out to legislators and people around the state for assistance in advocating for funding the South Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program to meet the demand for life saving medications.

The cost of HIV/AIDS drugs continues to increase, and with inadequate funding for early care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, patients will continue to suffer. With adequate funding, however, people living with HIV can stay healthier and working longer, mother to child transmission can be nearly eliminated, and new infections can be prevented. If we fail to focus on HIV prevention in South Carolina, the state will continue to see increased numbers of new HIV infections and incur the severe financial burden of care for those who are uninsured.

According to Noreen O’Donnell, Ryan White Program Manager for SC DHEC STD/HIV Division, "The South Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program is currently facing a funding shortfall due to cuts in federal and state budgets and an increase in demand for services. As of November 24, 2010, there are 251 patients who are HIV positive on a waiting list for drugs and that number is projected to rise to over 900 people by June 30, 2011. Without additional funding the wait list will be in place for the foreseeable future."

ADAP is growing at a rate of 10-15% annually and serves 27% of people living with HIV in South Carolina, which is 7% greater than the national average. South Carolina must ensure the provision of $3.5 million recurring, and at least $7 million in additional state supplemental funding to maintain the continuation of federal funds for ADAP. With the current $1.8 million supplemental state contribution, the SC ADAP predicts a $10 million shortfall for FY 2011.

How can you help? Contact your state legislators, Congressmen, Senators, Governors, even the President, and demand that money for ADAP be restored and that no further cuts be accepted.

It's the least we can do for those who need our help.