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Photos and Story by Ron Williams |
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The turnout for the AIDS candlelight march this year was somewhat disappointing. Does this mean that the AIDS epidemic is over? Or are people just becoming complacent because of the new therapies? Perhaps its the demographics indicating that he disease is waning. I would suspect that it is a bit of all these things. But the disease rages on, that is the reality of the situation. |
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The crowd may have been sparse this year but as you can see our trusted Mayor Willie was there, dressed a bit more casual this year. Was that a leather baseball cap he was wearing? He was accompanied by Barbara Boxer and Carol Migden. And, the guy clutching the his teddy bear.
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For those of us that were fortunate enough to escape this disease still feel the pain and devastation, we now have to live in the wake of its destruction. The lost lovers, friends and family members. The feelings of abandonment after these special people they have passed away and left us all alone. The survivor guilt we have all experienced has made it difficult to continue on at times. There comes a time to acknowledge the survivors and help the healing begin. In remembering the victims taken by this disease, we begin to heal the wounds of the epidemic. Remember that the candlelight march is just one glimmer of light that helps keeps the hope alive for all people around the world. |
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It has been a 14 years since the first Candlelight, At one of the first marches, I remember sitting on the ground at UN Plaza, where the march ended. The sounds of tears and sobbing permeated the crowd and the names of victims were read to the crowd. There was an innocence about crowd of people then. Today, the crowd is different, some live in a quiet anger, others cling to hope, while many of us are just burned out. The battle against AIDS has improved some, but complacency is not the light at the end of the tunnel. |
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On a lighter note. Just as the crowd was starting to gather at Castro and Market, an rare old Connie flying at a low altitude passed right over the Castro. Now, for those of you that don’t know what a Connie is. Connie is short for TWA Constellation. The plane the Howard Hughes designed when he launched Trans World Airlines, back in the 40s. I thought it was a nice gesture or maybe just a coincidence, in any event, it deserved mention. |
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