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April 28, 1991 - "We Do Men" Reggie and John Teamer celebrate '90 Years in the business... & Still growing!'
Click to enlarge!
1992 - Reggie Williams and four other HIV-positive Black Gay men are featured in the film "No Regret" by Marlon Riggs.
July 1992 - Reggie and Wolfgang meet in Amsterdam during the VIII International Conference on AIDS, at a cultural event at the COC building, hosted by Strange Fruit, a 'group for gays and lesbians of color and friends'.
Newark, NJ, February 1993
The conference had been moved from Harvard to Amsterdam because of a law (which was passed by the US Congress in 1987) barring HIV-positive persons from entering the United States. In April 1989 the ban gained international attention when Dutch AIDS educator Hans Paul Verhoef was jailed in Minnesota, while attempting to change planes to attend an AIDS conference in San Francisco. New York Times article, June 15, 1990
Read more about Immigration Issues and Travel Restrictions in the Encyclopedia of AIDS.
There are still many travel and residence restrictions worldwide > www.hivtravel.org
October 30, 2009
President Obama signs Ryan White Act IV, lifts HIV Travel & Immigration Ban! The regulations went into effect on January 4, 2010, following a routine implementation period. >> Immigration HIV Issues
In 1993 Reggie and Wolfgang live most of the year together in San Francisco.
1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation
Action Statement Preamble to the Platform
Wolfgang and Reggie take part in a "Wedding-Manifestation" with hundreds of participants, demonstrating for equal rights.
(...) As I stand here and think about the March’s theme—a simple matter of justice—within the context of my talking about HIV, I find myself wrapped in so many emotions. I feel anger, frustration, hope, joy, grief, pride, empowerment and love. I feel all of these and more because I can’t talk about HIV without talking about a whole host of other issues like racism, homophobia, sexism, poverty and others. (...) Read the speech
Reggie is mentioned in an article in Z Magazine: United We Stand, Divided We Grovel - Queers and the health care debate - By Scott MacLarty
(...)The 1993 March On Washington proved a success in terms of numbers, perhaps a million, and as the ultimate queer party. But many of our issues were noticeably underplayed, especially at the rally on the Mall at the end of the march. Few speakers discussed AIDS activism--Larry Kramer was nearly blocked from speaking--none, as I remember it, mentioned health care, and the April 26 action went unannounced. Reggie Williams, who headed the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, was the only person to discuss AIDS in any detail. We were force-fed the military ban issue, culminating in a spectacle of queers in uniform marching across the stage and standing at attention. (...)
Because of his declining health Reggie retired from his position as Executive Director of the NTFAP in February 1994. He was honored at the wonderful 'Yours in the Struggle' Banquet on February 26.
Watch the video: Part I, 4:11 min. Featuring Kevin Brooks, Alan McCord, H. Alexander Robinson, Belinda Rochelle, Mario Solis Marich.
Part II, 7:38 min. Featuring Ray Dumas, Phill Wilson, Steve Lew, John Teamer, Juan Rodriguez, Frederick Matthews and Reggie Williams.
April, 5, 1994 - Black gay filmmaker Marlon Riggs dies.
In April, 1994, Reggie moves to Amsterdam. He can legally immigrate in the Netherlands as Wolfgang's life partner. There are no immigration restrictions for people with HIV in the Netherlands. Same-sex partners have the same immigration rights as everybody else.
September 11, 1996, was designated "Reggie Williams Day" by the California State Senate in honor of his 'dedicated service as President of the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention'.
Publications:
There is an interview with Reggie Williams in the book 'Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America' by John-Manuel Andriote, 1999.