“For almost 20 years, Sylvester has been an icon of San Francisco nightlife: outrageous, bold, proud. Today, he is a symbol of a totally different San Francisco — a gay man struggling to stay alive”
Originally published November 8, 1988
“You care, I'm told (although I no longer believe it). I've even heard you called a saint... But saints have imaginations vivid enough to know how to spend $374 million in a dire emergency.”
Originally published May 31, 1988
Plus: 'A Diary of Living With AIDS' and 'Remembering Robert — Seven Writers Commemorate a Colleague and Friend'
April 28, 2020
“There are between 10,000 and 20,000 adolescents on the streets of this city… The most desperate of them eventually land with a thud on the docks, where not even the salt in the air can preserve them.”
April 24, 2020
“Our failure to devise an effective response to AIDS is partly a product of the silence of our culture. We are raised to regard epidemics as relics of distant lands and ancient eras; when an outbreak does occur, it seems unprecedented, unnatural.”
Originally published October 13, 1987
"Memorials. A new way to be unhappy in a group. I visit a friend who can no longer speak. A few days later he's dead. If you ask after people you haven't seen for a while, be prepared"
Originally published January 2, 1990
Robert Massa covered the AIDS crisis from a personal perspective.
November 30, 2018
An exhibition of paintings from 1985 to 1995 reminds us of what we’re missing
March 28, 2018