Of all the events that will mark this Gay Pride month of 1998, none is likely to be more significant than remembrance of members of our community who lost their lives to the virus we have come to loathe as AIDS. The Stonewall Library Exhibit on June 2nd, and the Candlelight Vigil that followed it, on June 2nd, mark one more etching in our lives of the disease that will not go away.

          As I have written before, AIDS has become all too familiar, and familiarity breeds apathy and contempt. The public feels that the days of urgency are over. As AIDS has become part of the national landscape, as we hear of insurance, viatical companies, and Ryan White funding, we tend to believe that the crisis has passed and the days of control are before us. We perpetuate a myth. Reality tells a different story.

          The consequence of our apathy, as I have written before, is that AIDS rates and numbers are significantly rising amongst gay youths. Talk to the staff at Center One, the largest and oldest AIDS service agency in Broward County, educating the public and meeting the needs of people with HIV disease. They can never do enough.

          Since 1984, when Center1 launched its efforts as "Anyone In Distress," 9,485 clients have passed through its doors. Of those, 5,479 have died. At Center One, the living is made more fruitful, the lives more productive. But there are still burials, and families are comforted, memories cherished, and individuals mourned. Still, the work must go on, and over 4,000 clients are currently being served, with scores of new patients every month.

          A monthly breakdown of Center1intake charts walks you through the spectrum of our community: more and more young people, minorities, and women; still a preponderance of gay men, but one thing continues to shock the conscience- the disregard for, and carelessness of, sexual practices. With over 10,000 diagnosed cases of AIDS and upwards of 25,000 HIV positive persons, Broward County has the 5th highest prevalence rate of AIDS in the nation.

          How does one agency respond? At Center1, case management attempts to assist AIDS patients with housing and direct financial assistance, legal assistance, and prescription medicine support. There are component services for clinical and psychotherapeutic care to deal with the shock and adjustment to learning you are HIV positive. There is an education division which provides anonymous HIV testing, workshops, and a library, with outreaches to gay youth, a segment of our population with rising AIDS rates. Over 200 volunteers provide assistance at switchboards for counseling, advise of insurance programs, and provide non-emergency transportation to medical appointments.

          Almost anonymously, and with all too little attention, Center1 just opened a South Broward Office at 901 State Road 7 in Hollywood, offering many of the same services as their Fort Lauderdale based office. Like most agencies that are not-for-profit, Center1 must reach out to our community for financial support in order to survive. Last month, we saw the American Red Ribbon Awards Gala feature Miss America.

          Last week, we all read about trial runs of an AIDS vaccine. There is cautious optimism, but with talk of vaccines and protease inhibitors, people are letting their guard down. Sexual carelessness rises. Young people always think they are indestructible. The poorer communities lack access to health care. Education is deficient. It is not a pretty picture: no Disneyland, no Magic Kingdom, no Fantasyland here. The disease is still burning a hole in the American landscape. It has claimed over 325,000 American lives, and by now we all know someone who has passed on due to it, don't we?

          There was a sea of red shirts gathered at Disney this past weekend, my first time at this event. There was a party on Main Street with thousands of shirtless men dancing under the evening sky. How many gay men were not there because they could no longer be? Next week, on Saturday June 20th, over 3,500 members of our community will dance the night away at what has become an incredibly popular and awesome event: the Red, Hot, and Proud Party at Port Everglades. It will raise needed funds for Center One. Please consider making this an event you attend.

          Together, we can be proud of our community's efforts. In Broward County, between the PWA Coalition, Broward House, Tuesday's Angels, the Ryan White Foundation, Poverello, the Northwest Clinic, and who knows who else I am forgetting, we have done much to tame the wounds of AIDS and enhance the life of those living with it. But there is still much more to be done, and we can never become complacent. One sure way of conciliating the tiger is to let him eat you. No war is ever won by looking the other way.

          We are in a war. The battle is not over. Earlier this year, we saw the Health Crisis Network in Dade County financially collapse. Medicaid and Medicare is getting harder to come by. Congress promises yet more cuts in the sessions ahead. There are voices in the gay community starting to say we are beyond danger. Our greatest danger is thinking we are beyond it.

          Our month of pride salutes unity through diversity. The battle against AIDS is fought on many fronts. Some become activists and others patients. Some become volunteers and other financiers. We each do our share when we can, where we can, and how we can. Let's all try to do more. As the advertisements for Vertex Pharmaceuticals read: "In AIDS research, patience is a deadly sin." Let us together assert we will not have patience, and together promise we will not engage in the kind of careless behavior that creates more patients.

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