She’s been a driving force in the war against HIV/AIDS for decades. See why Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is so passionate about this cause.
REP. PELOSI
I said that I came here to fight against HIV/AIDS because I did.
KARL
Welcome to Plus Talk on Plus Life, where we’re all about turning positive into A plus. And my goodness gracious me, my guest has been doing that, not just in Congress, but here in the city of San Francisco for decades. It’s an honor to have Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. Speaker, thank you for joining me.
REP. PELOSI
That was my pleasure. Thank you.
KARL
“I’m here to fight HIV and AIDS.” You said that. “We must take leadership, of course, in the crisis of AIDS.” Why did you run towards HIV/AIDS when everyone else was running away from it?
REP. PELOSI
In our community here, it had a big assault. We had the great scientific organization, the institution, the University of California, San Francisco. They were seeing things from like the Middle Ages, just strange things. The challenge that we had health-wise about prevention, care, research was very, very important to all of us. But the discrimination was something that had to be stopped. I saw this stigma. What happened was my people that I knew in the Congress, now I’m brand new there, they said, when you get sworn in, don’t say a word. Nobody wants to hear from a new member of Congress. So don’t say a word. So I said, I’m OK with that. Just say, yes. Do you swear? So then the speakers, Jim Wright at the time, he said, does the gentlelady from California wish to address the House? Of course, I’m not going to say no. So I get up there and they’re like, be short, be short, be short. So I get up there. First thing I say, you know, is that I’m here to fight again. I will tell you that I’m here again to fight against HIV/AIDS. Afterward, I thought I was so short that they would be so pleased. I’m looking at them like, oh, no. And I said, well, what’s the matter with you? I was short. I was as short as I could be. And they said, why would you want that issue to be the first thing that you were known for in the Congress of the House of Representatives, the House of Representatives? I said, well, I said that I came here to fight against HIV/AIDS because I did. That’s why I said that.
KARL
You’ve said, think personally, act globally and scientifically. How do you go about achieving that in the ’80s, at the height of the crisis, and even through today in 2023?
REP. PELOSI
We’ve made a lot of progress. And think personally, of course. It didn’t matter what someone had as a diagnosis. We cared and we wanted to take care of them. This happened to be HIV/AIDS. I think globally in San Francisco, right from the start, I have to give credit to the activism because people knew that we were never going to succeed personally or locally unless we succeeded globally. And so we would have big candlelight vigils. It’s globally, globally, globally. And that was really a part of spreading the word. And then, of course, later, much decades later, thinking globally and acting globally was so important. But HIV/AIDS or anything like that doesn’t know any borders. They just don’t know any borders. So if we’re going to put an end to it, we have to think globally to succeed personally and locally.
KARL
What does World AIDS Day mean to you in 2023?
REP. PELOSI
In 2023, World AIDS Day is viewed, in my view, in a very positive way compared to the way it was 30 years ago or more, when we were first encountering AIDS globally, personally and locally. And it’s cause for celebration, but still cause for concern because we want to have zero HIV/AIDS in every place in the world. And so it’s still about singing the praises of those who work so hard scientifically. That’s what we were blessed with in San Francisco. We took a terrible, wormy bite of the apple of HIV/AIDS. But we had the scientific knowledge here, the community-based activism, and we had a responsibility to not only our country, but to the world, not only personally, but globally. And so World AIDS Day evolved, making some progress, more progress, more progress, and now a success, but not total.
KARL
The theme for World AIDS Day this year is global solidarity, shared responsibility. When you hear that, how do you interpret it?
REP. PELOSI
Well, right now we are having a challenge in the Congress about PEPFAR. PEPFAR was an initiative under President George Bush, but we in that Congress were very much responsible for funding it and the rest. I was there with President Bush. I praised him, he praised me. But really, he deserves credit because he not only did it at the time, he and Mrs. Bush, Laura Bush, have been supporters. I have visited clinics in Africa, all over Africa, where people have said to me, I would never have gone in for a test. These are poor people in Africa. I would never have gone in to be tested for HIV/AIDS until PEPFAR, because then I knew that if I tested positively, that I would have a solution or a remedy. And that made all the difference, saved probably 25 million lives. When COVID came along, I said to the head of the World Health Organization, tell me how PEPFAR is helping. It’s helping scientifically. It’s helping distribution-wise. It’s helping clinical, clinic-wise around. So it has made a big difference in the fight against COVID because of the distribution system, the scientists and the trust that people have in a solution. So it has made a big difference there. And I was telling that to my colleagues just even last week about, we really need to continue this of itself and for what it means. It has nothing to do with a woman’s right to choose. I think we’re going to win on it. We have to.
KARL
What do you think the role is for people who are living with HIV when it comes to leadership roles and changing policies around HIV?
REP. PELOSI
Well, I’ve had any number of people who work for me who have been HIV positive. And we go way back, late ’80s, I mean, beginning 90s. And when people come in to share their stories with us, and they’re talking to somebody who has been tested positive, it makes all the difference in the world. And again, as an intellectual resource for what we must do legislatively, we’re just not finished with this. And until it’s zero, we need all the science and community-based understanding of how things affect people. And there are so many people with HIV/AIDS that have done so much for our country in the fight against HIV/AIDS, in the fight against it, that have made life better for many people for many different reasons, including putting this diagnosis in the dustbin of history. Thank you for listening to them, because that’s so important. Not just talking to them, but listening to them, so that they know that what they have to say is important, and we can learn from them.
KARL
You have called the National AIDS Memorial Grove sacred ground for healing, hope, and remembrance. Can you describe what it feels like to be there?
REP. PELOSI
Renewal. It’s about renewal. And every time I go, I think about various manifestations of love, hope, sadness that goes with it. And then people volunteering and volunteering to just make it as beautiful as it is. And being a place where families could come from all over the country to see where their family member would be remembered or could be remembered. And a venue for us to have any number of World AIDS Day, different events. I always spend my anniversary in Congress there with my grandchildren of now growing up, planting trees or weeding gardens. But it has different manifestations. It has the names of so many people who have died. It’s a beautiful place. And it’s a place for prayerful, renewal, giving hope. What is a garden except something that is renewed? It’s about renewal. And to see the families come and have the quiet and the peace. It’s very inspiring to the rest of us to see what it means to those who have lost their loved ones, as we all have. But this is their family loved ones.
KARL
Speaker Pelosi, thank you so much. This has been an honor and a treat. And thank you for your service and taking the time.
REP. PELOSI
That was my pleasure. Thank you.
KARL
That is going to do it for this episode of Plus Talk. If you want more information, you can check out our website, pluslifemedia.com. And remember, you can follow us across social media platforms. Until next time, be nice to one another. We’ll see you soon. Bye-bye.