The first AIDS candlelight march
Candles against silence: in 1983, men with AIDS walked at the head of a march themselves for the first time.
On 2 May 1983, thousands of people carrying candles marched through the Castro district of San Francisco. It was the first AIDS candlelight march, and it was unlike anything that had gone before. At its head walked not doctors or politicians, but men who themselves had AIDS.
The disease was barely understood at the time. How it was transmitted was still unclear, and there was no treatment. The media reported little, and when they did, it was often full of prejudice. Many gay men lost their homes or their jobs as soon as their diagnosis became known.
In this situation, four young men decided to give the disease a face: Bobbi Campbell, Bobby Reynolds, Dan Turner and Mark Feldman. All four were ill themselves and knew they probably did not have much time left. Their goal was simple: to honour the dead, strengthen the living and give the bare numbers a human face. They organised the march without the internet, with leaflets, posters and phone trees. That same evening, people with candles also took to the streets in New York.
One detail made the evening in San Francisco special. Only people with AIDS were allowed to carry the banner at the front, and only they spoke. It read "Fighting for Our Lives". Those who had previously been described as victims now appeared as people taking action themselves.
That one evening became a tradition. Since 1984, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial has been held every year in May, now in many countries around the world. It remembers those who have died and at the same time supports people living with HIV today.
Bobbi Campbell did not live to see much of it. He died in August 1984, aged only thirty-two. But his idea lives on, every year, whenever candles are lit again somewhere in the world.