Santa Clara County held events spanning two days to commemorate World AIDS Day on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.
World AIDS Day is an annual event held on Dec. 1 to support individuals living with HIV, their family members and to remember those who have died from AIDS, according to a United Nations webpage.
The HIV epidemic began in June 1981 according to a June 7, 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation article.
HIV or human immunodeficiency virus is an infection that attacks the immune system transmitted through bodily fluids such as semen and blood, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage. This weakens those living with HIV, making them more vulnerable to infection and illness.
HIV can evolve into acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the most severe stage of HIV, if left untreated, according to another CDCwebpage.
About 40.4 million individuals have died because of HIV related causes since the beginning of the epidemic, according to a webpage from the World Health Organization.
The virus disproportionately affects the LGBTQ+ community with over half of those living with HIV reported to be gay or bisexual men, according to a 2016 fact sheet from the CDC.
Gabrielle Antolovich, president of the board of directors for the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, helped organize the display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt during the event.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of 1,920 panels of fabric, each displaying a name of someone who died from AIDS, according to a Smithsonian Institution Archives Dec. 17, 2020 article.
The quilt was first displayed in 1987 at the National Mall park in Washington and was large enough to cover more than a football field’s length according to the same article.
The quilt was available for viewing in the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center on Dec. 1.
Antolovich said that during the AIDS epidemic, members of the LGBTQ+ community that were not directly impacted by the virus came together to help those that were.
“We were fractionalized, separated and not really working together, but the AIDS crisis brought us together through compassion and the horrible homophobia that was happening at that time,” Antolovich said.
She said the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center offers HIV testing and resources such as discussion groups for survivors of the virus.
Artist Mary Berry said she has been living with HIV for 28 years and attended the quilt viewing with a personal perspective.
“I’ve had many friends who have died from this disease,” Berry said. “The quilt means a lot because it means they’re not forgotten.”
Berry said she lost someone every week during the epidemic for a period of time.
“When I first got diagnosed there was no medication,” Berry said. “They gave me this medication that killed people and that’s all they had. It was the first one they tried, AZT was the name of it and it was a pretty nasty drug.”
Antiretroviral (AZT) was the first drug approved by the U.S. Federal Food and Drug administration to treat HIV and AIDS in March 1987, according to a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases webpage. The drug was originally created to treat cancer, but was later found to be effective in treating HIV.
Community member Russ Reiter said he attended the quilt viewing to remember his previous romantic partner, who he watched die from AIDS.
Reiter said the hospital his partner stayed at before his passing allowed them to stay together in the room every day and was receptive to gay parties.
He said Remembrance Day makes him think back to that period of time, even though his partner doesn’t have his name on the quilt and is not from San José.
“It was sort of final, he knew he was going to pass and each day near the end is getting worse and worse,” Reiter said. “It was very burdensome knowing that there wasn’t going to be another outcome.”
HIV and AIDS are still incurable infections and can be deadly, according to a CDC webpage.
Medications can be taken to manage symptoms once the virus is contracted, according to the same webpage.
“Nowadays, you guys have hope for a cure or a preventative,” Reiter said. “Continue to be careful and just live in the moment. Do what you can today because tomorrow is not a guarantee for any of us.”
