S. F.'s AIDS/ARC
vigil continues
by Billy Russo
W hile the nation is busy being outraged by
recent LaRoucheian primary victories in
Illinois, the California chapter of this neo-Nazi
group is quietly collecting signatures to put a
measure before the California voters that
dwarfs the Briggs initiative of the Seventies in
term s of blatant homophobia. The LaRouche
initiative calls for quarantine and other op­
pressive measures against PWAs and m em ­
bers of high-risk groups suspected of being
AIDS carriers.
Legal consequences, according to the
O range County Chapter of the ACLCI, include
lifting the safeguards of confidentiality
regarding the HTLV-III antibody test, barring
suspected antibody carriers and members of
their households from working or attending
school, travel restrictions, forced isolation
and quarnatine.
Like during the campaign against the
Briggs initiative (which proposed to bar all
homosexuals from teaching in California),
the lesbian/gay com m unity will rise to battle
this attack on human rights. Unlike during
the Briggs campaign, the homophile co m ­
m unity is also leading the fight against the
ARC/AIDS epidemic. And there are other
storm s brewing in the California legislature
affecting human rights regarding AIDS.
It’s obvious that the epidemic has to be
fought in the political as well as the scientific/
medical arena. And it’s also obvious that
Roseburg should play a role. Both Portland
and Eugene have good programs for caring
for PWAs and PWARCs. And education is
being orchestrated nationally. So, those of us
W O M E1M
thne W
OODS
who are willing to play a role in Roseburg are
focusing on the political issues. And a recent
visit to the Bay Area removed all doubts in my
m ind that that is where we can be most
effective.
In the past year I have heard inspiring
stories from people passing through Rose­
burg about how effectively the Bay Area co m ­
m unity is dealing with AIDS. I have heard a lot
about an illegal ongoing demonstration
Roseburg
Report
called the ARC/AIDS Vigil. It is a small tent
city in front of the old Federal Office Building
which houses offices of Health and Human
Services, the bureaucracy of which the
Center for Disease Control is part. Besides an
inform ation table protected by an awning,
there is a cook te n t one for supplies, and
three tents which are used primarily to house
homeless persons with ARC/AIDS. The table
is staffed around the clock.
The Vigil is an act of civil disobedience that
began last October when a handful of indi­
viduals decided to spend the night in protest
of governm ent response to the plight of
persons with ARC/AIDS. Although illegal, the
Vigil has been sanctioned by many powerful
politicians and prospers under the protection
of the city’s board of supervisors.
When I arrived in early April there was
m uch internal strife and infighting. This
grassroots movement had suffered its first
round of growing pains and was rebuilding
after many key supporters walked away. It
rem inded me of what Roseburg’s Gay And
Lesbian Alliance (GALA) went through in
1982.
Also like Roseburg’s GALA some disillu­
sioned staffers took steps to destroy the Vigil
from within. One pair of founding PWARCs
repeatedly charged other unnamed m em ­
bers of dealing and doing drugs at the vigil
site. This pair paid rare infrequent visits to the
vigil site during the three weeks I participated.
Vet every tim e they ventured over from the
bar across the street, they brought accusa­
tions of substance abuse. Often their
unsubstantiated charges led to loud non­
constructive arguments. To dismiss these
unfounded charges the core group spent
m any hours inspecting the tents and their
contents. No drugs or paraphernalia was dis­
covered during these searches. And
although I spent six to eight hours there each
day, I never saw any signs of illegal drugs.
In spite of internal problems the Vigil Fam ­
ily serves as the apex of political action
around ARC/AIDS. With the support of Con­
cerned Republicans for Individual Rights
(CRIR), Vigil members frequently travel to
Sacram ento to testify at com m ittee hearings
on the dozens of AIDS bills before the Cali­
fornia legislature. And according to them
CRIR and the ACLU are the only groups do-
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ing this im portant work at the state capitol.
Most of the bills before the legislature are
designed by arch-homophobes with the in­
tent of diverting much-needed funds away
from research, treatment and education. The
bills focus on funneling funds into surveil­
lance: needless mandatory antibody testing
o f groups like newlyweds, all hospitalized
people, persons on kidney dialysis machines,
the developm ental^ handicapped, etc-----
According to Jan Beck, a PWA active with
both the Vigil and CRIR, if these hom ophobic
bills are enacted into law, 80% of funds avail­
able will be used for surveillance.
On a parallel front the state health officer
has com e up with a program which similarly
focuses on surveillance. In a long-overdue
report, which is supported by the governor of
California, guidelines are recommended
which call for mandatory testing of rapists,
the crim inally insane, the mentally ill and pos­
sibly the CDC’s “ high risk groups."
The Vigil functions as an act of civil dis­
obedience drawing attention to needed legis­
lation. It draws attention to the issues with a
petition outlining four moral appeals.
“ We make these appeals to the President
and the American people:
1. Federal research funding of $500,000,000
this year to find a cure for AIDS & ARC, not
to com e from existing social programs.
This am ounts to one hour of government
spending.
2. Federal recognition of AIDS-Related
Complex (ARC) as a critical dimension of
the AIDS crisis affecting vast numbers of
Americans. We call for proper funding for
medical care and support for people with
ARC, including such services as Medicare
and Social Security Disability Insurance
(SSDI).
3. The FDA must immediately allow Am eri­
can physicians to prescribe medicines
and treatments for AIDS ARC available
to their colleagues in other countries.
4 We appeal to President Reagan and gov­
ernm ent officials at all levels to publicly
condem n AIDS-related discrimination
against current risk groups and to
repudiate incitement of fear and hatred
which exploits this tragic epidemic.”
&
The Vigil site is at the main entrance to the
Federal Building at 50 U.N. Plaza. Offices of
Health and Human Services (HHS), the fed­
eral agency which administers the AIDS
epidem ic, are housed here. U.N. Plaza is
bordered by San Francisco’s main artery,
Market Street.
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Just O ut. June. 1986
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