European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 4, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Residents of san Francisco by Robert Lindsey new York times n the once bustling Castro District of san Francisco empty storefronts Are beginning to appear and Lor Sale sirens Are adorning Many of of Ifica beautifully restored victorian Homes in this neighbourhood that gained renown Lorms culture of openly expressed homosexuality the predominant concern of to living is now dealing with deals and dying so Many people have died of aids lha Many residents say hey can no longer count the number of friends they have lost. One resident. Kevin George says that he lost count Al 22 you re always in mourning or someone to said and you know there s going a to be More " another resident Allan Berube. Said to had slopped countr Ngalot i m learning How to incorporate grieving Mlo my daily Lite he said so it s now As much a Parl of my life As eating and sleeping " Bart Levin who lost track of the aids loll among his friends Al 34, stood beside a Castro Street bar recently and pointed out a copy of the Bay area reporter a newspaper thai Alers to san Francisco s Largo homosexual population. A s full of obituaries of people you know and ads Lor mortuaries crematoriums and lawyers who warn you to while a will he said i m weary of since 1981,3,402 cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been diagnosed in san Francisco a City of 725,000. And 2,030 people almost Al of hem Gay men have died of the disease Almos i 10 percent of the nation s total. Health experts say the aids death loll there could pass 10.000 by 1991. The somber and subdued atmosphere these Day to Castro Dis Ricl is m Sharp contrast to that of a decade or so ago. When an american social revolute sods began there thousands of men and later women from around nation converged on a City noted Lor tolerance and Cau hourly opening a secret Joor 0 heir lives acknowledged they were homosexuals. In inc company of others. They sought sexual Iichi Don cd i hem at Homo a degree of political influence Juride and the right to pursue a tile different from tha mainstream Mouca although sell Odin Many parts of City the Castro to Lect. Covering about six Square blocks iwo Miles of City Hall became the Prim commercial cooler for san Francisco s Gay populate now estimated a 70,000. Many were financially Sec who artfully restored deteriorating victorian Homos in the Castro and nearby neighbourhoods As this group gamed increasing acceptance and influence Here Many homosexuals elsewhere woul say the Castro example made in easier to a Knowles their sexual Prele Renco. And the Castro District beet both a Symbol of Success and1 a kind of prototype it similar Gay enclaves to other cities. The late 1970s and Early 1980s were a period of anything goes sexual liberation of san Francisco s Community. On some nights thousands of men my sem nude or wearing costumes women s clothing heavily studded leather outerwear overflowed onto Community s sidewalks some taunting Hetero Sext couples who had ventured Inlo their neighbourhood in new York More Home by Ronald Sullivan new York times concern about aids m new York City has reached such proportions that increasing numbers of women who Are presumably Al Low risk Are seeking to be tested. Al one lasting site m Manhattan in april 40 percent of the people who wanted to be tested for the virus that causes aids were women considered Al Low risk according to health commissioner Stephen c. Joseph none of them tested positive for the aids Inlet Lien a City health Deparl moot Olli Cial said later Joseph said he surprisingly High percentage of women at Low risk seeking to be tested signified an increasing awareness and concern about aids among the City s heterosexual population " people Are beginning to act on their concerns Joseph said alter testifying at a state Assembly to ally commit Tec hearing on aids Al Siclare s he spinal in Manhattan. Susan Rosenthal the director of aids prevention counselling for the City s health department said women finally began to believe that they could be infected that to they had not been entirely celibate monogamous they could t Fenew Lor certain Ovar ii last eight years or so whether s mar had Boon Bess. Or had shared a Needle " people considered lobe at High risk of contract in acquired immune Del Crenic r s and Rome including sexually Active homosexuals and intravenous drug users have Boon Les cd Tor the aids virus Lor Noarl two years however Joseph said the increasing percentage of what health optic gals called mainstream women seeking to be tested Strong indicated tha repealed Public health warnings of i. Threat of aids Are having g positive Impact. Joseph Leslil Iod that 32,000 people have been Tes led in the last two years Al iwo City and four Stal testing silos m the Oil 70 percent of the have be men victims find Solace at Chi by Lindsey Tanner associated presso n a january Day a Las vegas aids made Bill a homeless Man Wiiri nowhere to could go to die. Even his Mother and Slep Lathi closed i hair door to him they re kind of uple til about the whole ads situation e
