It is with a heavy heart that I post this. I only had the chance to meet this wonderful woman once but I was able to learn so much about her. She was a great friend of the community. Many knew her from the lesbian social group she created called, “Wildflowers”. We met at one of many meetings at Deja Vu. I regret that she became ill while I began a relationship with her daughter, Amber and never got the chance to have the time to form a friendship. Through Amber, I became second witness to her considerable strength and humor in the face of such adversity. She will be missed by many and always remembered… for like the sunshine that shone on her garden, so she shall shine above us all. Let us all remember those in our lives that we love, so that it may transcend..for the spirit is always so much stronger than the body and will live on forever in our hearts.

Michael Esswein

This is the first in a series of health articles by Dr. Maninderjit Singh M.D.

What is AIDS?

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which kills or impairs cells of the immune system and progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. HIV is most commonly spread by sexual contact with an infected partner.

The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of an HIV infection. Official criteria for the definition of AIDS are developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is responsible for tracking the spread of AIDS in the United States . The 1993 CDC definition of AIDS includes all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ T cells. (Healthy adults usually have CD4+ T-cell counts of 800 or more.) In addition, the definition includes 26 clinical conditions that affect people with advanced HIV disease.

Ellen Degeneres discussed the recent hate crime murder of 15 year old Lawrence King on her daytime talk show this week.
“I would like you to start paying attention to how often being gay is a punch line of a monologue, or how often gay jokes are in a movie. That kind of message, laughing at someone because they’re gay is just the beginning. It starts with laughing at someone, then it’s verbal abuse, then it’s physical abuse, then it’s this kid Brandon killing a kid like Larry.”
Watch the video here: Ellen on Lawrence King Murder 

The Fresno County Department Of Community Health - HIV/AIDS Program provides assistance and counseling for those seeking help in revealing their HIV status to a partner, as well as individual HIV counseling. Click on the READ MORE link  below to access the informational brochure and contact information.