Back in 1997 I decided to ride in what was then called the California AIDS Ride. I did this for several reasons: one, to honor my dad who had passed away several years before and two, for the personal challenge. Riding 560 miles on a bicycle in a single week wasn’t something I’d ever thought I would do. It wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d WANT to do.

I had also come to understand the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic and the incredible number of lives that were being lost each day in this country and around the world. I wanted to support the services provided to AIDS victims by the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles and by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Now a little more than 12 years later I am getting ready to do it for the thirteenth time.

The history of the battle to end the AIDS pandemic is a story of good guys and bad guys. It’s a tale with heroes and villains, dedicated researchers and caregivers as well as opportunists and scam artists. They’ve all played a role in bringing us to the point we’re at today, with the death toll still rising and no cure, or even vaccine, available now, or expected in the foreseeable future.

The first recorded case of AIDS in the United States was in 1981. As victims multiplied and public attention began to focus on AIDS and HIV, a number of myths began circulating that were, at first, widely accepted by the general population as well as by some in the medical community. AIDS was a “gay disease” and if you weren’t queer you weren’t at risk. The corollary to this: if you were gay and a victim of AIDS, your condition was your own fault and a result of your choice of lifestyle and your perverted sexual practices. The cure was simple. Quit being homosexual.

The association of AIDS with what many regarded as a socially unacceptable lifestyle resulted in reduced government funding for research as well as widespread apathy on the part of the American public toward AIDS victims. The situation wasn’t much improved when IV drug users were added to the list of those at risk. Drug addicts were almost as bad as queers. AIDS was God’s punishment for sin so the victims were only getting what they deserved.

Twenty-eight years later, the myth that an AIDS victim is the cause of his own affliction is still repeated and believed by many Americans. It’s this belief, contradicted by years of research and study, that even today hampers fund raising efforts and is one reason why we haven’t yet developed a cure or vaccine.

There’s a second myth today being circulated by the drug companies whose concern for human welfare is secondary to their desire for profit. To increase sales of whatever drug du jour they wish to market, they publish full page ads in magazines and newspapers touting the marvelous results that can be obtained by patients who take their product. These ads often include photos of healthy, vigorous models acting the part of the HIV patients and smiling while playing tennis or at the beach or engaged in some other fun, athletic activity. The message they send is that HIV isn’t really so bad. So how great this guy looks and he’s HIV positive. See how healthy he is.

The ads are effective. Studies show increasing numbers of young adults, both straight and gay, no longer see HIV as a serious threat and are more willing to engage in unsafe sex practices.

HIV infection leads to AIDS. Let me tell you what an AIDS patient looks like. Since most AIDS victims die of Kaposi’s sarcoma, an opportunistic cancer of the connective tissue, he or she will probably have purplish red or brown blotches over much of the skin surface of his body. Less visually obvious will be the lymphomas which are cancerous tumors that will appear in his or her lymphatic system. 50 to 70% of all male victims and 45 to 90 percent of all female patients lose weight and muscle tissue and experience fever, fatigue, muscle aches, general weakness, loss of appetite, skin rash and swollen lymph nodes.

During the course of the infection and before death brings the final curtain down, many patients will suffer problems with other organs and tissues throughout the body. A common problem is “thrush” which is a yeast infection in the mouth which causes ulcers and open sores to develop. Patients may also suffer diarrhea and/or malnutrition. The virus can also destroy cells in the lungs, kidneys and nervous system leading to a general loss of strength, loss of reflexes and feelings of numbness or burning sensations in the feet or lower legs.

Tennis, anyone?

Regardless of the propaganda generated by the drug companies, the war isn’t over … and we’re not even winning it! Worldwide, the number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to 36 million in 2007. During 2007, approximately 2.5 million people were infected with HIV. 5,700 people die from AIDS every day. One child dies every minute. So far, 15 million children around the world have been orphaned by AIDS.

Every 15 seconds, another person age 15-24 becomes infected with HIV/AIDS.

This is a war we have to win. And we won’t unless we all pitch in and fight together. It’s easy to sit back and assume someone else will solve the problem. It’s easy to hide behind our pleasant lifestyle and try not to think about the millions who today are suffering and dying. We used to be able to dismiss the victims as queers and drug users. Now, we can say “AIDS is just an African-American problem (or “just” an African problem). It’s only a problem in the third world. AIDS in the US is in decline”.

You can think that but that won’t make it so. In the US, the number of women living with HIV/AIDS has tripled in the last two decades. In the US, at least half of all new infections are among people under the age of 25. In the US, at least 40,000 people are infected each year … and that number is growing. AIDS isn’t just a threat to gays or drug users or to Africans … it’s a very real and very deadly threat to all of us.

Here’s what you can do.

Come join me on the ride this year. Maybe you don’t think you can do it. Neither did I in 1997. If you really don’t think you have the stamina to bicycle 565 miles, then come with us as a member of ride support team. You’ll help put up the tents, prepare and serve food or maybe participate as a member of one of the roadside assistance or medical teams.

And if you really don’t feel you're able to manage that, because of age or health, then at least make a donation to fund research and the victim support programs that make life just a little easier for those suffering with AIDS. For more information about how and where to donate, or to sign up and join us on the ride, visit http://www.aidslifecycle.org or click on contact and let me help you get set up.