Gay Pride: A Time to Recommit to Community Health

As we celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride this month, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation shares in celebrating how far the gay community has come in the face of overwhelming social, political and medical odds. This time of the year offers our communities the opportunity to come together and reflect on what gay pride means to each of us and to our commitment to strengthen the health of our communities. In particular, we would like to take gay pride one step further by offering several questions for reflection:

• What does pride really mean to us and should it include a commitment to protect each other from harm?
• What can each of us do to ensure that HIV infections are minimized and ultimately eliminated in our communities?
• If we challenged ourselves to treat one another with greater respect and dignity, would it improve the health of our communities?
• How can we each help to ensure that our communities not only survive, but thrive?

To thrive, we each must be committed to our own well-being. And we must be equally committed to the well-being of others. The political, legal, social and sexual well-being of our communities depend largely on our willingness to look out for and protect ourselves and one another.

The legal and political manifestations of these individual and collective commitments range from voting to marrying; from adopting a child to securing domestic partnership benefits; from civil unions to civil disobedience. The social and sexual manifestations of these commitments range from engaging in safe sex to disclosing one's HIV status to one's partner in sexual situations; from a personal commitment to never transmit HIV to your partner--regardless of their status--to a commitment to remain HIV negative for life.

We are all witnesses to the brutalizing damage that comes from the hurt and pain of social rejection and isolation. Sadly, the damage often manifests itself in substance abuse, depression, risky sexual behavior, and HIV infection. In a world where so many gay, bisexual and transgender men and women experience profound isolation and rejection at the hands of the larger society, it is essential that we all nurture and foster strong acceptance and respect within ourselves and between each other.

It is within our individual and collective abilities to achieve a community where each of us is genuinely committed to promoting the health and well-being of one another, whether it is in the most private sexual experience or the most public encounter to defend basic human rights. Our community cannot survive without making these commitments. It cannot thrive without living these commitments. As we celebrate gay pride, we have an opportunity to thrive by embracing these commitments to ourselves and each other throughout the year.

For more information about the ways you can get involved in community building efforts to end the HIV epidemic, see "SFAF Works to Build & Mobilize Community."