Hank Wilson
Encyclopedia
Henry "Hank" Wilson was a longtime San Francisco LGBT rights activist and long term AIDS activist and survivor
. The Bay Area Reporter
noted that for "over more than 30 years, he played a pivotal role in San Francisco's LGBT
history." He grew up in Sacramento, and graduated with a B.A. in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1971.
; the Tenderloin AIDS Network, which became Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center; the PWA Coalition; Mobilization Against AIDS; a film festival that grew into the Frameline Film Festival
; the AIDS Candlelight Vigil, which became the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial; the Committee to Monitor Poppers and ACT UP/Golden Gate, which became Survive AIDS.
and Ron Lanza, Wilson co-founded the Gay Teachers Coalition in 1975 and lobbied against discrimination for gay teachers in the San Francisco schools. A leader in the 1977 anti-Briggs Initiative (No on 6) campaign, Wilson worked extensively with gay issues in the San Francisco Unified School District
. He served on the Gay Youth Advocacy Council which founded Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC). He also served on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
's Youth and Education Committee and also launched with Ammiano a gay speakers bureau to educate San Francisco high school and middle school students about gay and lesbian issues. In 1976 he helped found the Butterfly Brigade, Castro Street Safety Patrol, and Carry a Whistle Defense Campaign.
Wilson was a founder of the Harvey Milk Gay Democratic Club
.
In 1978, he started a business partnership with fellow activist Ron Lanza, which led to leasing four Tenderloin Hotels. He operated the Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin through 1996 and it became a model of harm reduction
services housing PWAs. In 1982, Lanza and Wilson created the Valencia Rose Cafe, an influential gay cabaret and performance venue, which featured musicians and comedians such as Marga Gomez
, Whoopi Goldberg
, Lea DeLaria
, and Ammiano. With Glenda Hope
and Dennis Conkin he founded Tenderloin AIDS Network that led to the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center (TARC). Wilson managed the TARC drop-in center providing support to the homeless and PWAs. He was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma
in 1987. He continued his activism in AIDS and participating in many demonstrations.
In 1981 he founded the Committee to Monitor Poppers to educate the gay community about the supposed hazards of using poppers
. Wilson co-authored a book with John Lauritsen
entitled Death Rush: Poppers and AIDS (New York: Pagan Press, 1986), in which they conjectured a later denied connection between poppers and AIDS
, especially Kaposi's sarcoma
, an AIDS-related cancer.
In 1999, Wilson was an instigator of efforts to gather signatures to qualify Ammiano as a write-in candidate for the 1999 San Francisco mayoral election. Ammiano got enough votes in the general election to force incumbent mayor Willie Brown
into a runoff.
Wilson was a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
in the 2000 election
, which marked the return of district elections, which had been abolished in the wake of the assassinations of Harvey Milk
and George Moscone
. He ran for District 6 but did not win.
On November 9, 2008, Wilson died of lung cancer
at Ralph K. Davies Medical Center
in San Francisco.
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. The Bay Area Reporter
Bay Area Reporter
The Bay Area Reporter is a free weekly newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities in the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the oldest-continuously published, and one of the largest LGBT newspapers in the United States....
noted that for "over more than 30 years, he played a pivotal role in San Francisco's LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
history." He grew up in Sacramento, and graduated with a B.A. in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1971.
Gay Activism
Wilson founded or co-founded many organizations, including the Gay Teachers Coalition; the Butterfly Brigade, which became the Castro Street Safety Patrol; San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, which became the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic ClubHarvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club
Based in San Francisco, California, the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club is a chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, named after LGBT politician and activist Harvey Milk. Believing that the existing Alice B...
; the Tenderloin AIDS Network, which became Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center; the PWA Coalition; Mobilization Against AIDS; a film festival that grew into the Frameline Film Festival
Frameline Film Festival
Frameline is a nonprofit media arts organization that produces the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the oldest film festival devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender programming currently in existence...
; the AIDS Candlelight Vigil, which became the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial; the Committee to Monitor Poppers and ACT UP/Golden Gate, which became Survive AIDS.
Political and artistic career
With Tom AmmianoTom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...
and Ron Lanza, Wilson co-founded the Gay Teachers Coalition in 1975 and lobbied against discrimination for gay teachers in the San Francisco schools. A leader in the 1977 anti-Briggs Initiative (No on 6) campaign, Wilson worked extensively with gay issues in the San Francisco Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District , established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California...
. He served on the Gay Youth Advocacy Council which founded Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC). He also served on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
San Francisco Human Rights Commission
The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is a department of the City and County of San Francisco that works to increase equality, eradicate discrimination, and to protect human rights for all people...
's Youth and Education Committee and also launched with Ammiano a gay speakers bureau to educate San Francisco high school and middle school students about gay and lesbian issues. In 1976 he helped found the Butterfly Brigade, Castro Street Safety Patrol, and Carry a Whistle Defense Campaign.
Wilson was a founder of the Harvey Milk Gay Democratic Club
Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club
Based in San Francisco, California, the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club is a chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, named after LGBT politician and activist Harvey Milk. Believing that the existing Alice B...
.
In 1978, he started a business partnership with fellow activist Ron Lanza, which led to leasing four Tenderloin Hotels. He operated the Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin through 1996 and it became a model of harm reduction
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
services housing PWAs. In 1982, Lanza and Wilson created the Valencia Rose Cafe, an influential gay cabaret and performance venue, which featured musicians and comedians such as Marga Gomez
Marga Gomez
Marga Gomez is a Puerto Rican/Cuban-American comedian, playwright, and humorist. She is openly lesbian....
, Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
, Lea DeLaria
Lea DeLaria
Lea DeLaria is an American comedienne, actress, and jazz musician. The "famously controversial" DeLaria was "the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier" with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show....
, and Ammiano. With Glenda Hope
Glenda Hope
The Reverend Glenda Hope is a Presbyterian Church minister in San Francisco, California, United States. She heads San Francisco Network Ministries, a charity serving the Tenderloin district of San Francisco....
and Dennis Conkin he founded Tenderloin AIDS Network that led to the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center (TARC). Wilson managed the TARC drop-in center providing support to the homeless and PWAs. He was diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...
in 1987. He continued his activism in AIDS and participating in many demonstrations.
In 1981 he founded the Committee to Monitor Poppers to educate the gay community about the supposed hazards of using poppers
Poppers
Poppers is a slang term for various alkyl nitrites inhaled for recreational purposes, particularly isopropyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite , and now more rarely, butyl nitrite and amyl nitrite...
. Wilson co-authored a book with John Lauritsen
John Lauritsen
Not to be confused with the television news reporter in Minnesota of the same name.John Lauritsen is a retired market research analyst. He is an author and activist. Lauritsen wrote for the New York Native and was an early skeptic of the theory that HIV causes AIDS. He covered the debate over the...
entitled Death Rush: Poppers and AIDS (New York: Pagan Press, 1986), in which they conjectured a later denied connection between poppers and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, especially Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma
Kaposi's sarcoma is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 , also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi , a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining...
, an AIDS-related cancer.
In 1999, Wilson was an instigator of efforts to gather signatures to qualify Ammiano as a write-in candidate for the 1999 San Francisco mayoral election. Ammiano got enough votes in the general election to force incumbent mayor Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
into a runoff.
Wilson was a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
in the 2000 election
San Francisco Board of Supervisors elections, 2000
The 2000 San Francisco Board of Supervisors elections occurred on November 7, 2000, with a runoff election held on December 12, 2000. All eleven seats were contested...
, which marked the return of district elections, which had been abolished in the wake of the assassinations of Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
and George Moscone
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
. He ran for District 6 but did not win.
On November 9, 2008, Wilson died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at Ralph K. Davies Medical Center
Sutter Health
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit health system in Northern California, headquartered in Sacramento. Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, hospitals and other health care service providers join resources and share expertise...
in San Francisco.
External links
- http://lifelube.blogspot.com/2008/11/remembering-consummate-gay-mens-health.htmlObituary by Chris BartlettChris Bartlett (activist)Chris Bartlett is a gay activist, feminist, educator, and researcher who lives in Philadelphia, PA, and is the Executive Director of The William Way Community Center.-Life and works:...
] - Obituary at Beyond Chron by Paul Hogarth
- Article by Bob Ostertag in The Huffington Post
- Obituary by Joe Wright, MD
- "Tribute to Hank Wilson" at SF Bay Times
- San Francisco Bay Guardian obit
- Finding Aid to the Hank Wilson Papers at the Online Archive of California