Activism Change

Pasquarelli Controversy Continues

Question:

More than anything else, such crass attacks glaringly illustrate the racist, privileged mindset that plagues the gay community.

Racist?  Dave was white. Crass attacks?  You can dish it out but you can’t take it can you, Swindel?

Response:

 Just who is Baby Peanut anyway? A drag name for Martin Delaney? I thought frod was the only one with "Marty is Everywhere" syndrome.

But Marty–er oh dear–oops! — I mean…Todd IS frod!

Response:

 Just who is Baby Peanut anyway? A drag name for Martin Delaney? I thought frod was the only one with "Marty is Everywhere" syndrome. But Marty–er oh dear–oops! — I mean…Todd IS frod!

The more things change…

Response:

There have been many hate filled attacks regarding David Pasquarelli over the last several weeks.

David Pasquarelli has fairly earned the hate directed at him. — David Canzi     She couldn’t get over the skimpiness of his worldly goods.                 "Maybe you ought to rethink crime as a career path," she said.                 "I do, all the time," he said, "but nothing else gives me the                 same job satisfaction." — Donald E. Westlake, Put A Lid On It

Response:

 Just who is Baby Peanut anyway? A drag name for Martin Delaney?

I thought frod was the only one with "Marty is Everywhere" syndrome.

Response:

By the way, all it takes to keep a controversy going is one chronically wrong idiot who won’t shut up.  So a continuing controversy is not evidence that there are actually two sides that deserve to be heard. — David Canzi     She couldn’t get over the skimpiness of his worldly goods.                 "Maybe you ought to rethink crime as a career path," she said.                 "I do, all the time," he said, "but nothing else gives me the                 same job satisfaction." — Donald E. Westlake, Put A Lid On It

Response:

If David and Ronnie made a mistake it was they cared too much,

Actually, it was they couldn’t see the trees for the forest.  Principles "for the people" (though arguably misguided) do not override how one treats individual persons. If David and Ronnie’s health decline is attributed to stress, they certainly caused the decline in health of many others. What a legacy. B/

Response:

Todd you fail to address a single point in the letter you purport to be responding to. Simply typing platitude after platitude doesn’t cut it in the real world and sadly that inability to recognize reality is what David and Ronnie suffered from, obviously you have the same problem. Gary Stein

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – There have been many hate filled attacks regarding David Pasquarelli over the last several weeks. Many claim to be experts regarding David’s health history when all than can purport is ignorance. Still others have posed cogent questions to obtain a better understanding. Beware of postings that allege detailed knowledge of David’s life when they come from anonymous sources. Just who is Baby Peanut anyway? A drag name for Martin Delaney? I am posting a recent letter to the Bay Area Reporter regarding David’s obituary follwed by my response. I speak as a long time member of ACTUP San Francisco and a close friend of David Pasquarelli for the last ten years. Todd Swindell ACTUP San Francisco Activist damaged activism We are writing because we feel that last week’s B.A.R. coverage of the death of David Pasquarelli failed to provide needed analysis of his very public activism as a AIDS denialist ["AIDS activist David Pasquarelli dies at 36," March 18]. Commitment to ideals must be tempered with rationality and compassion for individuals you claim to be assisting. David failed terribly by these criteria, and this should be remembered in any reflection on David’s legacy. David’s activism was informed by an unsupported, irrational, yet unshakeable conviction that HIV is harmless and that anti-HIV drugs invariably do more harm than good. His promotion of this idea almost certainly contributed to early deaths of thousands of HIV-positive people in this country and possibly tens of thousands in the less developed world. South African President Thabo Mbeki embraced ACT UP/SF’s denialist rhetoric to justify years of delay in providing needed AIDS treatment and prevention. David’s brand of threatening, abusive, and often violent "activism" was frequently personally directed at AIDS activists, AIDS doctors and researchers, and people with AIDS. He seriously damaged unpaid AIDS activism in San Francisco. His repeated disruptions of meetings and discussions regarding HIV science and policy substantially poisoned the environment for including people with HIV in these forums. David’s style of "activism" reminded us of no one so much as notorious homophobe Fred Phelps, also an idealistic and committed "activist." As gay men with HIV, we will not feel it necessary to pay tribute at Phelps’s passing. We similarly feel no such need at David’s. But it is necessary to publicly critique and criticize David’s legacy, even at this sad time for those close to David. Young activists are strongly influenced by community admiration and approval. It would be a tragedy if the tributes paid to David at his death encouraged others to imitate the worst mistakes of his life. Furthermore, even at David’s death, the denialist cant continues. David’s associates have attributed his death to stress caused by some two months spent in jail, anemia, PCP, meningitis, CMV, etc. In other words, anything but untreated HIV infection and AIDS. The death of fellow HIV-positive AIDS denialist Ronnie Burk one year ago was likewise attributed to anything but untreated HIV infection. With two of San Francisco’s four most outspoken HIV-positive AIDS denialists dead from AIDS within a year, we hope that fewer will embrace the denialists’ deadly dogma. We know from our experiences and those of hundreds of friends and loved ones that informed use of anti-HIV drugs improves health and saves lives and that HIV transmission prevention remains critical to slow this epidemic. It is sad that neither David nor Ronnie allowed this reality to enter their world-view before it was too late. Stephen LeBlanc Michael Lauro San Francisco Stephen LeBlanc and Michael Lauro’s letter [Activist damaged activism B.A.R. March 25] is a sickening example of the worthlessness of self-appointed AIDS activist torch bearers. As an ACTUP San Francisco member for over ten years and close friends with both David Pasquarelli and Ronnie Burk, I feel the need to address a couple issues. If David and Ronnie made a mistake it was they cared too much, their passion for social justice overrode a focus on their own self-care. The authors so-called critique is nothing more than callous revisionism. An HIV diagnosis may define their contemporary identity but it’s up to future generations how AIDS will be remembered. The young queer activists who will fully grasp and appreciate Ronnie and Dave’s legacy have yet to be born. More than anything else, such crass attacks glaringly illustrate the racist, privileged mindset that plagues the gay community. The basic needs of people everywhere, housing, food and universal health care, remain unaddressed by activists such as LeBlanc and Lauro who are more concerned with Palm Springs honeymoons and the latest queer cable TV show. Ronnie was one of the most brilliant artists the gay community has seen. A victim of the Ellis Act, Ronnie’s eviction sent him back to Brooklyn to focus on his visionary poetry. Our society isn’t hospitable to artists, much less a skinny Mexican with a big mouth. His lack of roots in such an uncompassionate world left him vulnerable. Ronnie Burk did more for world culture than LeBlanc and Lauro could ever dream of. Ronnie’s stroke was a devastating result of the stress following the brutal murder of his 15-year-old African-American nephew by racist Texas police. Ronnie spent his life battling racism, more often within the gay community and AIDS service organizations. Dealing with racism everyday takes it toll. A stroke can make one not want to fight anymore when that’s all they’ve been doing all their life. Dave’s health decline was certainly a result of the three months he was incarcerated in San Francisco County Jail. The tragic reality is that the prison system exists as modern day concentration camps designed to exterminate this nation’s Black, Latino, Asian and poor White youths. Even in oh-so liberal San Francisco, County Jail is no walk in the park. Dave undoubtedly contracted meningitis in the Jail’s shower room. It was his first battle with the illness that left his immune system weakened and unable to rebound. The inability to acknowledge both these incidents only further attests to the racist elitism of LeBlanc and Lauro. Rather than address these issues, they just blame HIV. It the same old tune that the AIDS establishment has been singing for over 20 years. Enough is enough. Reject HIV hysteria and toxic AIDS drugs. In memory of Ronnie and Dave, Let Love Rule! Todd Swindell ACTUP San Francisco

Response:

There have been many hate filled attacks regarding David Pasquarelli over the last several weeks. Many claim to be experts regarding David’s health history when all than can purport is ignorance. Still others have posed cogent questions to obtain a better understanding. Beware of postings that allege detailed knowledge of David’s life when they come from anonymous sources. Just who is Baby Peanut anyway? A drag name for Martin Delaney? I am posting a recent letter to the Bay Area Reporter regarding David’s obituary follwed by my response. I speak as a long time member of ACTUP San Francisco and a close friend of David Pasquarelli for the last ten years. Todd Swindell ACTUP San Francisco Activist damaged activism We are writing because we feel that last week’s B.A.R. coverage of the death of David Pasquarelli failed to provide needed analysis of his very public activism as a AIDS denialist ["AIDS activist David Pasquarelli dies at 36," March 18]. Commitment to ideals must be tempered with rationality and compassion for individuals you claim to be assisting. David failed terribly by these criteria, and this should be remembered in any reflection on David’s legacy. David’s activism was informed by an unsupported, irrational, yet unshakeable conviction that HIV is harmless and that anti-HIV drugs invariably do more harm than good. His promotion of this idea almost certainly contributed to early deaths of thousands of HIV-positive people in this country and possibly tens of thousands in the less developed world. South African President Thabo Mbeki embraced ACT UP/SF’s denialist rhetoric to justify years of delay in providing needed AIDS treatment and prevention. David’s brand of threatening, abusive, and often violent "activism" was frequently personally directed at AIDS activists, AIDS doctors and researchers, and people with AIDS. He seriously damaged unpaid AIDS activism in San Francisco. His repeated disruptions of meetings and discussions regarding HIV science and policy substantially poisoned the environment for including people with HIV in these forums. David’s style of "activism" reminded us of no one so much as notorious homophobe Fred Phelps, also an idealistic and committed "activist." As gay men with HIV, we will not feel it necessary to pay tribute at Phelps’s passing. We similarly feel no such need at David’s. But it is necessary to publicly critique and criticize David’s legacy, even at this sad time for those close to David. Young activists are strongly influenced by community admiration and approval. It would be a tragedy if the tributes paid to David at his death encouraged others to imitate the worst mistakes of his life. Furthermore, even at David’s death, the denialist cant continues. David’s associates have attributed his death to stress caused by some two months spent in jail, anemia, PCP, meningitis, CMV, etc. In other words, anything but untreated HIV infection and AIDS. The death of fellow HIV-positive AIDS denialist Ronnie Burk one year ago was likewise attributed to anything but untreated HIV infection. With two of San Francisco’s four most outspoken HIV-positive AIDS denialists dead from AIDS within a year, we hope that fewer will embrace the denialists’ deadly dogma. We know from our experiences and those of hundreds of friends and loved ones that informed use of anti-HIV drugs improves health and saves lives and that HIV transmission prevention remains critical to slow this epidemic. It is sad that neither David nor Ronnie allowed this reality to enter their world-view before it was too late. Stephen LeBlanc Michael Lauro San Francisco Stephen LeBlanc and Michael Lauro’s letter [Activist damaged activism B.A.R. March 25] is a sickening example of the worthlessness of self-appointed AIDS activist torch bearers. As an ACTUP San Francisco member for over ten years and close friends with both David Pasquarelli and Ronnie Burk, I feel the need to address a couple issues. If David and Ronnie made a mistake it was they cared too much, their passion for social justice overrode a focus on their own self-care. The authors so-called critique is nothing more than callous revisionism. An HIV diagnosis may define their contemporary identity but it’s up to future generations how AIDS will be remembered. The young queer activists who will fully grasp and appreciate Ronnie and Dave’s legacy have yet to be born. More than anything else, such crass attacks glaringly illustrate the racist, privileged mindset that plagues the gay community. The basic needs of people everywhere, housing, food and universal health care, remain unaddressed by activists such as LeBlanc and Lauro who are more concerned with Palm Springs honeymoons and the latest queer cable TV show. Ronnie was one of the most brilliant artists the gay community has seen. A victim of the Ellis Act, Ronnie’s eviction sent him back to Brooklyn to focus on his visionary poetry. Our society isn’t hospitable to artists, much less a skinny Mexican with a big mouth. His lack of roots in such an uncompassionate world left him vulnerable. Ronnie Burk did more for world culture than LeBlanc and Lauro could ever dream of. Ronnie’s stroke was a devastating result of the stress following the brutal murder of his 15-year-old African-American nephew by racist Texas police. Ronnie spent his life battling racism, more often within the gay community and AIDS service organizations. Dealing with racism everyday takes it toll. A stroke can make one not want to fight anymore when that’s all they’ve been doing all their life. Dave’s health decline was certainly a result of the three months he was incarcerated in San Francisco County Jail. The tragic reality is that the prison system exists as modern day concentration camps designed to exterminate this nation’s Black, Latino, Asian and poor White youths. Even in oh-so liberal San Francisco, County Jail is no walk in the park. Dave undoubtedly contracted meningitis in the Jail’s shower room. It was his first battle with the illness that left his immune system weakened and unable to rebound. The inability to acknowledge both these incidents only further attests to the racist elitism of LeBlanc and Lauro. Rather than address these issues, they just blame HIV. It the same old tune that the AIDS establishment has been singing for over 20 years. Enough is enough. Reject HIV hysteria and toxic AIDS drugs. In memory of Ronnie and Dave, Let Love Rule! Todd Swindell ACTUP San Francisco

Response:

Filed under: Community Activism

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