“HIV is certainly character building. It’s made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course I’d rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character.” —Randy Shilts, author of And the Band Played On and The Mayor of Castro Street

I recently finished reading Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love. David Talbot’s history of San Francisco is dark and stormy, frighteningly full of events that belie the free-loving-60s-hippie spirit the city is known for.

Among the stories recounted in the book is that of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that turned formerly fun, flamboyant neighborhoods into ghost towns. The gay population of San Francisco—of the country, really—was hit the hardest; healthy people struck down in their prime. That felt familiar.

I know that AIDS and ALS are very different. ALS is not contagious, and it’s not an epidemic. There are so few people who have it, in fact, that it’s considered an orphan disease, and commands very little attention from the NIH or the public. We all know this, just as we know that after this summer’s Ice Bucket Challenge, the game briefly changed for ALS.

But it takes a lot of money and a lot of attention to impact a fatal disease. Read More>