NTFAP 1991-1994
1991
The Center for Positive Care (CPC) was one of the many coalition projects in which NTFAP participated. It was an experiment arranged by the San Francisco AIDS Office using the first batch of the Ryan White CARE Funds in 1991. Several AIDS Service providers were to open a joint outreach center to enable clients to see caseworkers or other staff of several agencies at one location. For further information on CPC see the AIDS Office of the San Francisco Department of Health records held in the Special Collections at the San Francisco Public Library.
NTFAP Team 1991, from left to right: Alan McCord, Gavin Morrow Hall, Steve Feeback, Al Cunningham, Juan Rodriguez, James Fonduex, Reggie Williams.
Photo by Michael Emery
Reggie (turning 40) and John Teamer (turning 50)
1991 "We Do Men"
April 28, 1991 - "We Do Men" Reggie and John Teamer celebrate '90 Years in the business... & Still growing!'
Reggie getting arrested in DC, 1987
1992 - Reggie Williams and
four other HIV-positive Black Gay men are featured in the film "No Regret" by Marlon Riggs.
1992 Reggie's first cousin Val, left, is doing the Fam Thing, as volunteer bartender at this event, which appears to be in The Women's Building in the SF Mission district. Midgett is in the middle, REGGIE, unusually dapper (especially in SF!) in formalwear. Clarmundo "Michael" Sullivan, 2nd from left.
1992 AIDS Conference, Amsterdam
July 1992, Amsterdam – VIII International AIDS Conference
Theme: A World United Against AIDS - 8,000 participants. The conference is organized in just one year following its relocation from Boston to Amsterdam to protest against the US Government travel ban against people living with HIV. The focus of the conference is on human rights as a public health imperative.
During the conference week Reggie & Wolfie meet at a dance organized by Strange Fruit, an organization of Black & Migrant LGBTQ
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.
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.
There are still many travel and residence restrictions worldwide > www.hivtravel.org
1992 SF AIDS Walk
1992, at NTFAP office
1992 SF, Market St
AIDS Prevention Efforts
Reggie Williams, Executive Director National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, at House Government Ops. Subcommittee, Washington DC
March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation - April 25, 1993
Wolfgang and Reggie take part in a "Wedding-Manifestation" with hundreds of participants, demonstrating for equal rights.
Alan McCord, Karen Brooks, Reggie, Shurland Aird, Kevin Brooks,
Karen Brooks, Kevin Brooks (1958-1996), Alan McCord, the late Shurland Aird, Reggie, Wolfgang, Deborah Cox, Stephen Matchett (1957-2020).
(...) 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. (...)
June 1993, Berlin – IX International AIDS Conference
1993, AIDS Conference Berlin
14,000 participants. Berlin is chosen to stress the importance of fighting racism and discrimination, “tear down the walls” is the refrain of the conference: walls between HIV positive and HIV negative people and between rich and poor.
Unfortunately 1993 is a disappointing year in HIV research: the results of the Concorde trial of AZT monotherapy shows no medium- or long-term benefit; also, the economic impact of the AIDS epidemic is becoming more and more obvious.
The 'Yours in the Struggle' Banquet on February 26, 1994
Reggie with Kevin Brooks
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.
1994 Farewell Dinner, w. Steve Lew, GAPA shirt
1994 Farewell Dinner, with John Teamer
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.
The African American Struggle against HIV/AIDS
By Dan Royles
