We Were Here Page #7

mandatory tested.

Other words, you could be tested

without your consent...

Um, and then those results

made available to people.

Fact is,

the reagan administration.

Has been criminal

in its response...

And they've done so

because they thought.

It was a disease

of the gay community.

And what needs to be done

is a federal program.

That's equivalent to our effort

to get to the moon...

That is equivalent of our effort

to develop the atomic bomb.

If we implement that,

we can stop aids...

But the way to go is not to

start violating civil rights.

I mean, the way to go.

Is not to start turning

american against american.

In times of crisis.

- And I believe

that when you live immorally...

Whether you're

a heterosexual or a homosexual...

And you violate

the laws of god...

And homosexuality does...

You become wide open to every

kind of sin and sickness.

- I think the country

as a whole understood.

That the queer community

was taking care of each other...

That our principal response.

Was food banks

and care programs...

And that it was a response

that america should be proud of...

And that maybe

the pat buchanans.

And the bigots

who were attacking us.

And who basically just

wanted us to die were wrong.

And at a certain point...

Those... Those attacks

just stopped.

They just couldn't

get traction.

To continue to stigmatize

people with aids.

- Aids organizations were just

popping up everywhere.

I mean, that was...

It was called

the san francisco model.

I think one of the reasons

the san francisco model worked.

Was 'cause of the size

of san francisco...

And because of

castro street itself...

That there was a center.

San francisco people

came here not for career.

They came here because

they wanted to live here.

And when aids came along...

The community was sort of

inherent in that.

It... All it needed

was the aids epidemic.

To really make it coalesce.

Whether it was taking care

of peoples' pets.

When they were

in the hospital...

Or bringing them food,

like open hand...

Everybody wanted

to do something.

It was a way

the community came together.

In an amazing way that...

...you know,

politics had never done that.

And it brought together

the women's community.

And the gay women's community

and the gay male community.

In ways that had certainly

never happened before.

- Again and again,

in every situation...

Every circumstance,

there's lesbians there.

Leading the fight.

All the women had friends

who were gay guys.

Who were sick.

I was walking up castro street

one day to my apartment...

And in the early days

of these horrible tests...

People would become anemic,

severely anemic.

There was also

a blood shortage...

Because of hiv and blood.

Lesbians weren't at risk

for hiv...

And... And could donate blood,

and did.

And so I'm walking up

castro street...

And I see a poster...

And I believe it was from

the lesbian caucus.

Of the harvey milk

gay democratic club...

And it said

"our boys need blood.

"Lesbian caucus blood drive.

For people with aids,

san francisco. "

And I remember thinking...

"This is just

a wonderful thing. "

- People came

to san francisco to go...

"What is happening here that

the response is so heartfelt?"

I think what made 5-A

such a spectacular place.

And such a powerful response.

Were the people

who worked there.

It's also true

of shanti project.

I mean...

I mean, literally...

It was thousands of people.

Who volunteered

thousands of hours.

- Every other sunday,

there is a party on ward 5-B.

The hostess is a travel agent

named rita berger...

But the nurses and the patients

know her as rita rocket.

- She came on an easter

to offer to do an easter brunch.

It went so well, turned into,

like, she would come on sundays.

And she would come

with this whole group of men...

Who spent

a good part of the week...

Like, baking all the food

that was gonna be eaten.

- I got together

with some friends...

And we started an organization

called visual aid.

I thought, okay, you know...

Just start in

the community that I know...

Which is artists...

And I was seeing

artist friends.

Who were having to make

the choice between...

...medical care

or art supplies.

When art was...

You know,

it was also therapy.

It keeps you going.

So we started this

organization called visual aid...

Which would give artists

access to art supplies.

We had great t-Shirts...

And we would sell them.

At every street fair

gay pride parade...

And we actually

made a lot of money...

And I remember

in one meeting saying...

"You know, christmastime.

"Is a time when people

are buying lots of gifts...

"And there's no street fairs.

"We should do

something about that.

We should have a place that

we could sell these things. "

And so I had this idea

to start a store.

I had pulled together

a board of directors...

And they wanted

to name it aids mart.

And I said, "no. "

I said,

"I'm gonna pull rank here.

I'm the president, and it's not

gonna be called aids mart. "

They said, "aids mart.

Aid smart. See?"

And I said, "no.

Nobody's gonna shop

at a store called aids mart. "

But "under one roof"

just sounded right.

I remember

working the cash register...

And, you know,

when you're working at a store...

You usually say thank you

to the customer.

I swear, every customer

would just say "thank you.

Thank you for doing this. "

'Cause, you know,

people who weren't.

Doing anything in the

community felt so powerless...

And here was one even

little way, by shopping...

By buying a mug or a t-Shirt

for their aunt tillie.

What ended up happening is...

Most of our volunteers

were people with aids.

Who were on disability.

People were sick.

But they could get out of bed

one day a week.

And work the cash register.

And it became,

for a lot of our volunteers...

Their social life...

Their only time

out of their houses.

- I felt as though

we were more compassionate.

We were going through things.

That other people

didn't go through...

Other people

didn't understand.

It just went over

everybody's head.

And I just remember.

How close that brought

everybody together.

You know, it was just, like,

we didn't care who you were...

But we all had

the same burden.

And that was just, like...

It was just, like, the glue.

- Gay people were never seen

as care givers.

They were seen as, you know,

good time people, you know...

Having fun, being wild.

And, all of a sudden, we were

the ultimate care givers.

It changed people's view

of the gay community.

In a huge way.

I remember

my father saying...

'Cause I was spending so much

time taking care of my friends.

And he was saying,

"these aren't family. "

And I said,

"yes, they are.

This is my family. "

And he got it.

He ended up taking care

of my friends too.

- When I was

in the thick of it...

I became, and I suspect

many people like me did...

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