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January 18,1990 • Southern Voice /19
President Visits With Adults,
Children With AIDS
Pre-Christmas Visit Marks First Time Talks With U.S. Leader
by Cliff O'Neill
Rockville, Md. - Marking the first such
visit by an American president now nearly
nine years into the epidemic, President George
Bush held a discussion with a group of adults
infected with HIV at the National Institutes of
Health here Dec. 22.
As part of larger visit which included a tour
of a ward for children with AIDS and another
meeting with a support group for families of
AIDS patients, Bush, his wife and son, Health
and Human Services Secretary Louis W.
Sullivan and his wife met for a half hour with
seven openly gay men in various stages of
HIV infectioa
In a statement read afterwards, Bush
praised the work of the federal agency.
"You're helping to improve the health of mil
lions of Americans," said Bush. "And even
more, like those soldiers in Panama - those
heroes - you're giving the greatest gift imagin
able: the gift of life. And nowhere is this gift
more evident than in your work to combat
AIDS."
Although his comments were overshad
owed by the overthrow of Romanian dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu, which happened during
the visit, and the continued American occupa
tion of Panama, Bush did devote the second
half of his statement to "HIV" and "persons
with AIDS."
"Only together can we all wage our war
against this terrible killer," Bush said, adding
that his meetings with the groups reminded him
"of the need for compassion and understanding.
"And by that," he added, "I mean the com
passion that moves us-to care for all those
infected with the HIV."
Although this marks the first time that, as
President, Bush has met with people with
AIDS, as Vice-President, Bush met with a
handful of AIDS patients two years ago in the
same building.
"This is definitely a positive sign," said
Robert Bray, public information officer for the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, of the
pre-Christmas Bush visit. "We hope that the
President will be moved to take more leader
ship and take the dramatic, personal testi
monies he heard from these adults and trans
late them into leadership and effective policy."
Among the adults taking part in the visit
was Len Jackson, an HIV positive, asymp
tomatic Baltimore resident. "We didn't really
know until it was underway what the presi
dent's purpose was," said Jackson. "And with
all the breaking events Panama and Romania,
we really didn't expect it to happen until it was
underway."
The meeting followed a five minute photo
session for the discussion participants and the
President. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the
National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious
Diseases, moderated the meeting. Talk was
limited to the men's personal stories at Fauci's
request, according to Jackson.
"President Bush didn't have a great deal to
say," said Jackson, "but he listened actively,
and I think sincerely. Mrs. Bush particularly
was visibly moved by some of the discussion
about discrimination"
Although the men with HIV were asked to
keep the short talk on a non-confrontational
level, the discussion reportedly took a spirited
turn when Bush asked a question about AIDS
discrimination termed as "naive" by Jackson.
"He asked why [discrimination exists],"
said Jackson. "He asked if maybe there are
people out there who still don't understand
about transmission [of AIDS] and are afraid.
"We told Bush how insidious that discrimi
nation is and that it comes even from the most
educated people, even from those inside the
medical establishment," Jackson added. "That
was the first opportunity in which we were
able to say, 'Be a leader. Set an example for
the world.'"
Jackson noted that, although the subjects of
health care financing and drug accessibility
were not able to be discussed due to the brevi
ty of the meeting, he would be bringing them
up in detail in a letter he is writing to Bush.
Coming at the same moment as the contin
uing upheaval in Panama and Romania, the
visit garnered little national attention, save for
Bush's hugging of a young boy with AIDS.
"While we all avoided articulating indict
ment for his taking so long to meet with us,"
stated Jackson. "The number of times and
ways he was thanked got across a lot. This
meeting was on sort of a diplomatic level.
However, I feel that slowly some wheel will
turn because of it."
Project Open Hand/Atlanta
Announces Plans for Mardi Gras
Masquerade Ball
Project Open Hand/Atlanta, our local
meals-on-wheels program serving peo
ple with HIV Disease, has announced
plans for Masquerade '90, their first
annual Mardi Gras Costume Ball to be
held on Saturday, February 24, 1990, in
the Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox
Theatre from 9:00pm til 2:00am. Tickets
are priced at $40 per person and include
food, soft drinks, and special entertain
ment with a cash bar.
Ball chairman Martin Reece said,
"The Board of Open Hand has decided
to sponsor only one major fundraiser a
year within the community, and the
bleak month of February seemed to be
the time of year when we all most need
ed something festive to happen to help
us get through the winter. We want this
event to be as big and as much fun as
anything in New Orleans or Key West.
We want it to be not only a fundraiser
for the Project but also something we
can give back to the lesbian and gay
community in Atlanta that has been so
generous and supportive of the work of
Open Hand this past year. Believe me,
this is going to be the party no one will
want to miss!”
Tickets may be ordered by calling
(404) 522-0172 and charging to your
Visa or Master Card. Orders paid by
check can be sent to Project Open
Hand/Atlanta, P.O. Box 50439, Atlanta
30302. All donations are, of course, tax-
deductible.
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