The Story of a Generation of AIDS Survivors

In the early years of the AIDS Pandemic, many hospices provided care to the dying when mainstream medical providers were not offering care out of fear of the many unknowns associated with HIV/AIDS. 

Reporter Erin Allday has written a moving account of a generation of people who have survived living with AIDs in San Francisco. Published this week by The San Francisco Chronicle, "Last Men Standing" includes a number of pieces that look at the Pandemic that defines a generation. They include: 

• an extensive articlea documentary film to be released April 8
• a documentary film to be released April 8
• and profiles of survivors. 

"They had the remarkable luck to survive AIDS, and the brutal misfortune to live on. They outlived an epidemic, but San Francisco’s AIDS survivors are still fighting for their lives," reads the introduction to the special project available online.  

 

In his article, Allday writes:  "Since 1981, when the first man succumbed to a disease that did not yet have a name, AIDS has taken more than 20,000 lives in San Francisco, most of them gay men, most of them decades too soon."

Near the conclusion of the article, readers are reminded, "In a life defined by a plague and measured in loss and pain, in fear and loneliness, sometimes it’s the smallest steps forward, the briefest moments of gratitude, that matter most. Waking up to the sunlight. Taking someone’s hand."

A brief description of the documentary film reads, "Surrounded by the ghosts of a generation lost to the AIDS epidemic, eight gay men search for meaning in a life they never expected to have." This is the San Francisco Chronicle’s first feature-length documentary, which will be released April 8 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.  A preview of "Last Man Standing" is available online.

This special report from The San Francisco Chronicle has received much attention on social media.