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The day I knew I was an AIDS Activist

When I was asked to speak before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on behalf of saving the Shanti LIFE Program from the Mayor's budget axe, I jumped at the chance.

I am a cancer and HepC survivor. I have AIDS. 

I was in awe as each speaker before me told their story and I realized their story was also my story. Suddenly it was my turn and I stepped up to the podium. Before Shanti's LIFE program I was desperate, overwhelmed, and suicidal. 

"There is far more one needs than just taking pills every day and the Shanti LIFE program is the only program that provided what I needed most to live a quality life."

As I spoke those words I looked Supervisor Scott Weiner right in the eyes as he sat in Harvey Milk's chair. "When you think of Shanti and the LIFE program, think of me and the countless number of others like me who with the Shanti LIFE Program can not only survive,but thrive while living with AIDS," I said.

After speaking I stood in the back of the chambers as two more men spoke about saving the Shanti LIFE Program. It was then I knew.

I was an activist and proudly so.

Speech to save SHANTI LIFE funding given before SF Mayor and Board

Hello, my name is Dennis Neal Vaughn, thank you for this opportunity to speak.

I am a cancer And HepC survivor.

I have AIDS.

When my family found out, all but my Mother disowned me simply for the fact that I had AIDS. My family had known for years that I was gay, but AIDS was just too much for them.

Before Shanti's LIFE program I was desperate, overwhelmed, and suicidal. 

Shanti taught me that I am never alone. I am one of many. Far too many.

Through Shanti I have a safe environment to handle and cope with this disease. They have given me back my life.

They connected me to a community.

They game me tools with which I have turned my life around. Tools that I still use every day in my life. Tools that are not found or taught anywhere else. Through Shanti I Got Informed, I Got Inspired, and I Got Active.

There is far more one needs than just taking pills every day and the Shanti LIFE program is the only program that provided what I needed most to live a quality life.

Shanti is more than a word, it is a face. It is my face. It is the face of all who are fighting serious illness and who need vital help.

When you think of Shanti and the LIFE program, think of me and the countless number of others like me who with the LIFE program can not only survive but thrive while living with AIDS.

I thank you for listening.

"what is a friend, anyway?"

"what is a friend, anyway?"

"A friend wants what is best for the other person.

A friend is honest, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth.

Friends have mutual understanding and compassion.

Friends trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged); able to go to each other for emotional support.

Friends share positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties."

World Aids Day, December 1

- Never Forget -
Tell One that You Know One - I am One of Many.

Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends theme

"Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you"

Proposition 8 is “clearly and unequivocally unconstitutional.”

The American Foundation for Equal Rights held a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the brief they filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The legal team believes that US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker was correct in his ruling that – as AFER’s Yusef Robb put it- Proposition 8 is “clearly and unequivocally unconstitutional.”

Lead attorney Ted Boutrous (pictured) told reporters that the US Supreme Court has already held in 14 cases that “marriage is a fundamental right of all persons and it’s a fundamental relationship – the most important relationship in life.” He said when you put cases such as Loving v Virginia (right to marry), Lawrence v. Texas (individual liberty), and Evans v Romer (equal protection) together with the marriage cases, “the law is overwhelmingly on our side.”

My personal philosophy:

"To see beauty at any moment all you have to do is really look and you will find it.
Beauty surrounds you always, it is just a matter of taking the time," Dennis Neal Vaughn

Fighting the good fight -"It gets Better"

Despite my ongoing pneumonia and adverse side effects from the meds, I am feeling agitated enough to keep speaking up and out. Especially in light of all the teen suicides.

I was bullied and maliciously teased not only at school but also at home by "family" from as early an age as I can remember. Even in grade school I remember contemplating suicide save for the fact of the love of my dear Mother. If it were not for her loving grace and unconditional love I never would have made it. Jealousy, lies, and bitterness separate many from those near me who should be close and trusted.

It is amazing that it is easier to throw rocks at others than deal with one's own shortcomings and clean one's own dirty house full of secrets and shame. Ahhh, the blind eye and deaf ear to one's own inner self and voice is so much easier to block out than to lend a helping hand and give of your heart, and to open to understanding and caring and unconditional love.

Sailing San Francisco Bay

Muir Woods 9-8-2010