Wednesday, October 15, 1997
Eye-Opener
CONFERENCE An AIDS-awareness conference hopes to educate
students about the deadly
disease.
By Frances Lee
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It is the second leading cause of death among 25- to
44-year-olds in the United States.
Heterosexual women are the fastest growing group of new cases
reported to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Teenagers are the
second.
And most UCLA students have never known a time without AIDS.
No longer just a "gay disease" or an "IV drug user’s disease,"
according to speaker Matt O’Grady, it is everyone’s disease; anyone
can test positive for the HIV virus.
A person with the virus can also become re-infected with
different strains, O’Grady said, further weakening their immune
system and increasing their chances of developing full-blown
AIDS.
Despite these statistics, however, only a handful of people
attended an AIDS-awareness conference at the Charles E. Young Grand
Salon Tuesday, proving to the two speakers that there was still
much work to be done to educate the public.
To O’Grady and Lynne Chamberlain from Love Heals – a non-profit
organization created in 1988 to continue AIDS activist Alison
Gertz’s work – the low attendance was not a surprise.
"There’s a great deal of fear," Chamberlain said. For students
who may have had unprotected sex over the weekend, "AIDS is the
last thing they’re going to want to hear about on a Tuesday
afternoon," she added.
O’Grady agreed, but noted that AIDS was an escalating problem
and "people have to hear about this." Both speakers suggested that
the university administration might take the initiative and make
AIDS education a requirement.
Addressing the audience, O’Grady added "the people here today
are meant to hear it."
Student Welfare Commissioner Samantha Gilardi was disappointed
at the low turnout, but hopes to hold more of these seminars in the
future.
"Everyone is going to be affected by AIDS," Gilardi said. "I
wanted people to be knowledgeable and protect themselves."
Both speakers came to the Student Welfare Commission-sponsored
event to share their personal testimonies with the UCLA
community.
O’Grady and Chamberlain have different backgrounds, but they had
the same message and the same goals – to let others know that AIDS
is something that can infect anyone, so protect yourself.
When O’Grady was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1986, "nobody knew
what AIDS was," he said. "It was a scary time.
"There was nobody to talk to about it (in 1986)," O’Grady
continued. "The early days of the epidemic (were difficult)."
According to O’Grady, the shame of being gay led him to abuse
drugs and alcohol, which lowered his inhibitions – a factor which
may have led to his becoming infected with the virus.
O’Grady believes that he’s still alive and healthy because he
took measures to prevent becoming re-infected with another strain
of the virus.
Chamberlain had a different story to tell. In 1991, she was a
law school-bound Tuskegee University senior in a monogamous,
committed relationship.
She had been dating her boyfriend for nine months when she
tested positive for the AIDS virus. What Chamberlain didn’t know
was that, in addition to being bisexual, her boyfriend had known he
was HIV-positive for two years, but didn’t tell her until she
confronted him.
"I never had a chance to say (to him), ‘Why did you do this to
me?’" she said.
Three years after testing positive, Chamberlain developed
full-blown AIDS. From the time she first found out until 1994,
Chamberlain said she spent that time waiting to die. But she saw
others going through the same thing, and decided to come forward
and share her story.
"I know why I’m here and what I’m supposed to do with my life,"
she said. "My relationship with God keeps me focused and centered
(on what I’m doing)."
For O’Grady, the recent death of a childhood friend prompted him
to speak publicly about his experiences.
That childhood friend was Jonathan Larson, composer and creator
of the critically-acclaimed musical "Rent," and his sudden death
was "the catalyst" O’Grady used to share his story.
O’Grady remarked that Larson was not gay, but had many friends
who were dealing with HIV or AIDS.
"(Jonathan) had done so much for me, and he put out this
beautiful message about love and hope in the face of adversity (in
‘Rent’)," O’Grady said. "It motivated me to go forth … that I
should tell other people there’s a way to prevent this."
The speakers ended on a positive note. Chamberlain even joked
about her low T-cell count, saying she had hoped at one point to
get the number up to 12, in order to name them after the 12
Apostles.
They may live with this disease, but as O’Grady said, "There is
such a thing as hope."
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Esmeralda Flores listens to the speaker at the AIDS-awareness
conference at the Charles Young Grand Salon.
Matt O’Grady from the Allison Gertz Foundation speaks at the
AIDS conference.