By Joanie Juster—
Good News From Unexpected Places
Anyone who truly cares about democracy, the future of our country, and the survival of our planet has had plenty to wring their hands about. Between climate change-induced fires burning up much of the world, historic deadly heat waves, a steady stream of idiocy and corruption flowing out of Washington, D.C., and ongoing wars and the attendant massive human suffering that inevitably ensues, things can indeed look bleak.
But we must never forget that, often pushed off the front page by all of the above, there is indeed good news to be found. On a local level, there is good news indeed: After a fierce, prolonged, and highly coordinated effort by a coalition of local nonprofits and activist groups, much of the funding that was endangered during San Francisco’s recent budget battles has been restored, protecting much of the safety net that so many of San Francisco’s most vulnerable communities rely upon.
On a national level, check this out: In Georgia, of all places, every single anti-LGBTQ+ bill that was on the ballot in their recent election was defeated. Yep, all fifteen of them. These were extremist bills aimed at banning puberty blockers for trans youth, criminalizing librarians for making LGBTQ+-friendly books available to minors, targeting trans student athletes and their access to locker rooms, bathroom bills, healthcare bans, book bans, and more. Every single bill was defeated by the voters. Georgia voters organized, testified, made phone calls, and made their voices heard loud and clear: No hate in this state.
But wait, there’s more! There were five similar anti-LGBTQ+ bills on the ballot in Florida. Four of the five were defeated and in Florida, home of Ron DeSantis and Mar a Lago, no less. Let that sink in.
If this can be done in Georgia and Florida, it can be done elsewhere. We can win if we work. We can win if we organize. We can win if we try. Let’s get to work; the midterms are only 80+ days away.
But in Other News
The deadly attack during the Berlin Christopher Street Day in Germany, the alarming escalation of brutal ICE raids and killings, and a recent, disturbing surge in gun violence in the Bay Area are just a few reminders of the dangers that arise from hate and intolerance. How do we survive in a world with so much brutality and intolerance? Each of us must find our own path to get through the dark days with our souls and our sanity intact. For me, the answer is always community, and kindness. We must rely on each other, and lift each other up.
‘Surviving Voices: AIDS Caregivers’ Premiere
In 1990, at a time when AIDS was devastating San Francisco, I applied to become a Shanti volunteer. The intense training was transformative, and the work of providing support for people facing the end of their lives was humbling, and life-changing. A film premiering in San Francisco will share the stories of people who chose to step forward to care for people with AIDS when the rest of the world was abandoning them. This new film by Jorg Fockele, Surviving Voices: AIDS Caregivers, is part of the National AIDS Memorial’s ongoing film series about the pandemic. In preparing this film, Fockele and his team spoke to over 50 caregivers around the country, and, while not all of them appear on screen, their stories and insights left a profound impression on the film.
The program will also include a 12-minute interview with Butch McKay, an AIDS activist, caregiver, and director of the Positive Living Program at Oasis, Florida. Butch passed away a few months ago, leaving behind a far-reaching legacy of kindness and compassion. He was beloved by the countless people whose lives he touched with his enormous heart.
The world premiere of Surviving Voices: AIDS Caregivers and the Butch McKay interview will take place as part of the SF Queer Film Fest at the Roxie Theater on Saturday, August 22, at 4 pm. This special screening will be presented by the National AIDS Memorial and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. A panel discussion will follow the screening and will feature panelists Alex U. Inn, Fernando Castillo, Rebecca Denison, and Dr. Paul Volberding; it will be moderated by Sister Roma. Get your tickets now; this one will sell out: https://tinyurl.com/SV26NAM
Leather Community to be Honored in AIDS Memorial Grove
The AIDS Memorial Grove is a sacred space for honoring and remembering the names of many who died of AIDS. But the Grove is also dedicated to honoring the compassion, sacrifices, and hard work of many who stepped up to help their community through this devastating crisis by tending the sick, raising funds for their care, educating their peers about safer sex, cleaning houses, delivering meals, fighting red tape to gain access to treatments, and so much more.
Throughout the Grove you can find boulders engraved with the names of individuals or groups who provided exceptional service to people with AIDS.
One such group is soon to be honored with a new commemorative boulder in the Grove: the leather community. In the earliest days of the AIDS pandemic—before we even had a name for it—the leather community started finding ways to help, by raising money for people too sick to work, going into the bars and clubs to build peer-education networks, and helping create and promote safer-sex guidelines. Their work provided a lifeline for many, rising above the fear and stigma of those early years to build, not just safety nets, but also community and connection.
Leather community leaders Race Bannon and Aaron Baldwin, along with National AIDS Memorial CEO John Cunningham, recently announced a new initiative to raise funds to design, carve, and install a new memorial boulder in the Grove, as a permanent public tribute to the leather community. As they said in their social media post announcing this project, “Together with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence boulder already in place, the Leather Community boulder will continue to further honor the communities whose courage, care, and defiance carried the AIDS response forward when so much of the world looked away … . They wrote the rules for staying alive when the rest of the world was still arguing about whether the epidemic was real … (they) turned hard-won knowledge of risk and pleasure into life-saving practice, at a moment when that knowledge saved lives no one else was working to save.”
The initial fundraising goal for the Leather Community boulder is $15,000. Should donations exceed that goal, the excess funds will help create two other memorial boulders: one recognizing the efforts of caregivers—those who stepped forward to tend the sick and dying during the worst years of the pandemic, as well as those still helping people living with HIV today. Another boulder is also planned, to honor the efforts of activists whose persistent, strategic, inescapable actions forced the government and the business world to pay attention and provide funding, research, and drugs that would save lives. They demanded action, and their actions changed the course of the pandemic, and saved countless lives.
To contribute to these new memorials in the AIDS Memorial Grove: https://tinyurl.com/NAMBoulder
I Stand With Science and I Stand With Fauci
Research has shown that Dr. Fauci’s work to create PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives. The recent attempt at character assassination by Senator Rand Paul and his Republican cronies was straight out of Senator Joe McCarthy’s historically evil playbook. It was a dark day for this country: absolutely despicable, unethical, and unAmerican.
No thank you, Senator Paul. I stand with science. I stand with Dr. Fauci.
Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.
In Case You Missed It
Published on August 13, 2026
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