San Francisco performed key function in AIDS battle, officers say
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco played a pivotal role in fighting AIDS in America and around the world, leaders and activists said Saturday at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the first reported cases of the disease.
London Mayor Breed and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke at the private ceremony at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
When the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981, “San Francisco was left alone,” Breed said, “but we did what the San Franciscans do best – we came together. … The care system for those with HIV / AIDS was developed here in San Francisco. The renowned research that continues to this day has established itself here in our great city. “
Pelosi, who hosted the first fundraiser for the now famous AIDS quilt, said the city’s compassionate, persistent, and science-based approach to the crisis helped San Francisco and the nation.
Pelosi said AIDS activism has also served as a model for other campaigns, including the fight against breast cancer, for marriage equality, and against the military’s previous “don’t ask, say nothing” policies that prevented homosexuals from openly serving, the chronicle reports.
Joshua Gamson, a member of the National AIDS Memorial Grove Board, noticed the chance of attending an AIDS memorial as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s weird to get out of one pandemic and think about another,” Gamson said. “This is my first time in the grove since the pandemic and I feel like I’m stepping out of a cocoon and immersed in the memories of the AIDS pandemic.”
The ceremony ended with a line of people forming to begin the hour-long ritual during which the names of those who died of AIDS were read.
