Tag: aids

Work of Art, 2:3

The challenge: Contestants must create a piece of POP art that captures the popular culture of their time as effectively as Andy Warhol did with his Campbell’s soup can.

I created a painting to add to my Friends and Bottle Caps series, with this explanation:

“There are events or moments in our lives which we recognize as ‘before and after’ points. As a girl, I really did want to teach the world to sing and live in perfect harmony, and Coke gave my generation one of our first points of visibility in the advertising world with that song.

As part of my Bottle Caps pop art series, I show that most American icon, the Coca Cola logo, as a cluster of balloons floating away against the sky. What replaces them in my life is a different visual: white balloons released at AIDS memorial services and funerals. These five white balloons are goodbyes to my friends Steve R, Jeff C, John M, Tim R, and Pete M.”

You can see more Work of Art challenge pieces on the blog Lindsey maintains for them. If you want to participate, Lindsey welcomes works for older or current challenges. It’s NEVER too late to create!

National Coming Out Day

National Coming Out Day has been recognized on October 11 since 1988, when it marked the first anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. My friend Alan linked to a video of a newscast from that event in 1987, and as I watched it, I found myself thinking, In those days, because of AIDS, coming out, being visible, was a matter of life and death. When I finished watching the video, I realized–coming out is still a matter of life and death.

I’ve been thinking a lot about courage lately. It’s one of those words applied to a wide variety of human experiences: Her courageous battle with cancer… The fireman courageously entered the burning building… They have the courage of their convictions… The courage of our troops fighting in Afghanistan…

Is it an overused word? I don’t know that it is. Because I’ve always believed that many of our biggest words–courage, strength, honor, love, heroism, honesty, compassion–are shown in the smallest acts of our daily lives. For those people who showed up in Washington, D.C., in 1987, courage meant saying, publicly, “I am a lesbian.” It meant contributing a quilt panel with the name of a beloved someone who died of a disease that everyone had kept a secret. Or walking down a street with a sign even if you didn’t feel like it was “your” cause because you believed it was a right cause.

  • Courage is being visible when a lot of people would like for you to remain invisible so they can be comfortable.
  • Courage is knowing that not everyone who is gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgendered has the supportive environment you might enjoy, so you commend their first step toward visibility, whether it is taken gloriously or hesitantly.
  • Courage is not mocking people because they look or behave or express themselves in ways that aren’t your ways but are authentic to who they are.
  • Courage is understanding that some people are not ready to open that closet door and letting them know that when they are, you will stand with them against whatever comes their way.
  • Courage is using your voice for people whose voices have been silenced by hate, by fear, by death.
  • Courage is understanding that even if you can’t raise your voice loud and proud and publicly, you can say quietly to someone, “I love you for exactly who you are, and I always will.”

Feel better

Poor Lynne was supposed to be part of this photo. She was even here but had started feeling progressively worse at work today and decided it was better to go home than take a chance at getting us sick. At least we sent her home with a cupcake. I hope you feel better soon, Lynne! Kathy, Tim, Tom, and I had a great night talking and stuffing our faces with cake after getting food from Barnaby’s, who gave 33 percent of their day’s food sales to AIDS Foundation Houston as part of Dining Out For Life. From that site: In 2010 with the help of great Houston restaurants, AFH raised $43,000 in support for their programs and services such as housing, case management, and food assistance for nearly 5,000 HIV+ men, women, and children.

Good food and good work? Who could say no to that? Thank you Barnaby’s and all restaurants nationwide who do so much for their AIDS/HIV-impacted communities. And it’s fitting that this year’s event fell on the day we celebrate Steve R’s birthday. AIDS took him from his friends and family too soon, but his love of celebration–and chocolate–still brings us together.