WORLD AIDS DAY
AIDS Memorial Quilt on a Nationwide Virtual Tour
National AIDS Memorial temporarily alters annual plans due to COVID pandemic
BY MATT TRACY
Due to restrictions
brought on by the coronavirus
pandemic, the
AIDS Memorial Quilt is
embarking on a virtual nationwide
tour in commemoration of World
AIDS Day on December 1.
The National AIDS Memorial
pieced together more than 10,000
quilt panels representing every
state as well as US territories as
part of the virtual project, which
is intended to give folks an opportunity
to view the world-famous
quilt in a safe manner during the
COVID era. The National AIDS Memorial’s
quilt team typically creates
more than 1,000 displays of
quilts nationwide at a wide range
of locations, though those plans
had to be changed this year.
“World AIDS Day is taking
on new meaning this year, as
COVID-19 has brought an enormous
loss of life and grief to millions
of people,” John Cunningham,
the executive director of the
National AIDS Memorial, said in
a written statement. “During the
darkest days of the AIDS crisis,
the quilt was a source of immense
comfort, inspiration and used as a
tool for social activism to open the
eyes of the nation to injustice and
to help survivors grieve and heal.
Through this exhibition, we hope
the power and beauty of the quilt
can serve that same purpose for
those who are experiencing loss
and grief due to COVID-19.”
The virtual plans come one year
after the quilt was moved from
Atlanta to the National AIDS Memorial
in San Francisco’s Golden
Gate Park with the purpose of preserving
it for the future.
The quilt was developed by the
NAMES Project Foundation and
stemmed from a candelight vigil
and march in 1985 to mark seven
years since the assassinations of
out gay San Francisco City Supervisor
Harvey Milk and Mayor
George Moscone in 1978. Milk’s
close friend, Cleve Jones, directed
folks to write names of people lost
to AIDS on a wall, and Jones later
noticed that the names looked like
a quilt.
Two years later, Jones and his
friend, Joseph Durant, brought the
idea to life by creating quilts for 40
friends who died of AIDS. That lit
the spark that culminated in the
massive quilt on display today.
The exhibition, which went live
on November 16, is free and open
to the public until March 31, 2021.
The displays are broken down by
state-based categories and include
the names of organizations or individuals
hosting the respective
display.
Hosts were given the option of
customizing their displays by selecting
their own quilt block and
creating a “display narrative” to go
with each display.
They paid $500 to participate
and the proceeds are being used
to preserve the 48,000-plus panels,
according to the National AIDS
Memorial.
Visit the virtual quilt at aidsmemorial.
org/vrtual2020. To see a
virtual edition of the entire quilt,
visit aidsmemorial.org/interactiveaids
quilt.
AIDSMEMORIAL.ORG
One of the eight virtual panels submitted by the New York Capital Chapter of the AIDS Memorial Quilt
for this year’s online-only exhibition.
FLICKR/ TEDEYTAN
Individuals lost to AIDS are represented on quilt panels at the National Building Museum in Washington.
➤ CONVERSION THERAPY, from p.5
Thomas’ opinion in the California
abortion disclosure case, it
seems likely that basing her dissent
on the idea that these laws
regulate professional conduct and
not speech as such was not going
to get anywhere. Still, she argued
this is that rare case where a statute
that prohibits a form of speech
based on its content and viewpoint
could be justifi ed as serving the
compelling interest of protecting
minors from harm.
She rejected the majority’s conclusion
that the laws “restrict ideas
to which children may be exposed”
by pointing out that nothing prevents
therapists from discussing
with their minor patients “the perceived
benefi ts of SOCE,” and also
that therapists “may recommend
that their minor patients receive
SOCE treatment from a provider
elsewhere in Florida.”
The only limitation imposed
by the laws was the actual practice
of this “talk therapy” on their
patients in Boca Raton and Palm
Beach County.
Most of Martin’s dissent dissected
the majority’s dismissive evaluation
of the evidence Boca Raton
and Palm Beach County legislators
relied on in banning conversion
therapy. She rejected Grant’s
assertion that there is “insuffi cient
evidence to conclude that SOCE is
so harmful as to merit regulation.”
Pointing to the 2009 APA report,
she quoted, “There was some evidence
to indicate that individuals
experienced harm from SOCE,”
including non-aversive methods.
That report went on to say that
➤ CONVERSION THERAPY, continued on p.21
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