{"id":397287,"date":"2026-07-14T00:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397287\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T00:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:39:14","slug":"the-bay-agenda-living-lessons-from-the-aids-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397287\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bay Agenda: Living Lessons from the AIDS Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patrick Batt<\/a>\u2019s eyes welled up as he remembered friends who died during the AIDS Crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aIt was on the one hand an extraordinarily difficult time, and I don’t remember crying as much then as I might do now because there was so much going on,\u201d he said with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Patrick Batt speaking at KALW\u2019s Studio Event Space.<\/p>\n

Batt, the owner of Auto Erotica<\/a> bookstore in San Francisco\u2019s Castro neighborhood, spoke at an event convened by KALW\u2019s Travis Raburn<\/a>. It was a multigenerational reflection on the Gay Rights Movement including Reverend Jim Mitulski<\/a> and Paul Aguilar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the panel looked back on both tragedy and resilience, Mitulski described San Francisco as a place where people found their self-identity and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Francisco is more than just a geographical location,\u201d said Mitulski. \u201cIt’s a spiritual location too. You come here, and you discover who you are, and then you meet other people who are on that journey too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Reverend<\/p>\n

Reverend Jim Mitulski looks out at the audience answering Travis Raburn\u2019s (left) questions.<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s LGBTQ+ activism runs deep, actually predating New York\u2019s well-known 1969 Stonewall Uprising<\/a>. The need for gay rights came into focus in the Bay in 1965, after a New Year\u2019s eve police raid<\/a> at a permitted drag show co-hosted by community members and, unusually, religious leaders at the California Hall located in the Tenderloin Neighborhood. Another event was the 1966 Compton\u2019s Cafeteria Riot<\/a>, where an officer attempted to arrest a drag queen at a Tenderloin diner and was confronted by patrons throwing dishware at him in protest.<\/p>\n

At the KALW live event, Paul Aguilar remembers his own moment of self-discovery. A fourth-generation San Franciscan and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation\u2019s community liaison for long-term survivors, Aguilar was in his teens when he joined the 1976 San Francisco Pride Movement and found his community.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI remember sneaking away,\u201d he said, \u201criding my bike down there, and seeing this sea of people of different colors, and in different states of undress. And at some point, I realized, \u2018Oh my God, these are my people.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Demonstrations built a network of support which became critical during the HIV\/AIDS epidemic that emerged in the 1980s. As the US government failed<\/a> to adequately address the crisis, the disease killed more than 700,000 Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Patrick<\/p>\n

Patrick Batt speaking at a panel during a KALW live event.<\/p>\n

For Batt, the epidemic hit close to home.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aIf all of your friend group died, how would you deal with it?\u201d he asked. \u201cPeople need to hear firsthand before we all drop dead that it’s what it was like. Because reading about it in a textbook, hearing about it in a classroom is totally different than sharing that information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reverend Jim Mitulski became the pastor<\/a> at the Metropolitan Community Church<\/a> of San Francisco in 1986. He led his congregation through the height of the AIDS epidemic. He described how his faith guided a movement of community and healing.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI truly believe this, that God gathered those of us in gay churches,\u201d Mitulski said. \u201cSo in the ’60s and ’70s, there would be a spiritual home to take care of peers, one another, people with AIDS in the ’80s and ’90s. I don’t think God caused AIDS, all that nonsense. But I do think that God equipped us to take care of one another in a profound way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rev.<\/p>\n

Things have changed dramatically for the better since then. In San Francisco, the most recent statistics show that fewer than 150 new cases of HIV<\/a> have been diagnosed in each of the few years. But the panelists remain concerned. The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee is proposing to end funding<\/a> for HIV prevention in the FY27 budget.<\/p>\n

Aguilar worries that history could repeat itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I’ve fought this battle, young people shouldn’t have to,\u201d said Aguilar.<\/p>\n