I'm asking you to dig deep for our brothers, Ms Visionary Roma Guy. They are dying. We were in love. I know I've hurt you. The truth is we're not done yet. What do you think about starting a job here so I can keep an eye on you? We know that we're both positive. We're gonna fight this, together. We are going to live. We cannot die in silence. Write their names! Write their names! It's a quilt. Copyright Able 2017 NEWSREADER: The Aids memorial quilt went on display in Washington today. The quilt is a massive international effort done by friends and family of people who have died of Aids. The Names Project, the 16-ton quilt, is made up of small, poignant and intimate declarations of love. To remember the dead, we have sewn panels on to this ever-growing quilt. We will now begin the reading of the names. Marvin Feldman. Scott Rempel. Bobbi Campbell. This was a war. We were trying to stay alive, we were caring for the sick, burying our dead. Almost everyone I knew in San Francisco was gone. And very few, least of all the president, seemed to give a damn. (HELICOPTER ROTOR WHIRRS) Just like Reagan, President Bush has ignored our invitation again. He will not be with us today, but he will be overhead. Shame! PEOPLE CHANT: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! (MUSIC PLAYS) Come on, Ken. Time to get up, honey. (GRUNTS) There he is. Hey, hey, hey, let me do that. No! Get outta here. Richard. Richard! Let me` Come on. He runs, he jumps, he flips! Oh baby. It's picture time. Do not` Come on, let me see those pearly whites. Do not. (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) There he is. (LAUGHS) - There he is. Oh! (LAUGHS) - (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS REPEATEDLY) (GENTLE MUSIC DROWNS OUT CONVERSATION) There aren't enough hands to carry what we've gotta do on the ward right now, Roma. All these extra shifts are not fair on you or Annie. It's fine. Annie! It's fine. I'll meditate later. Come on, honey, we gotta go. Could you quiz her on her math on the way? Yes. OK. Bye. ANNIE: Bye, Mom. Annie, I'll meet you at the bus stop at 3. (GENTLE MUSIC) You're very late, Cecilia. And your eyes look really glassy. Are you serious? Yes, I am. I'm clean! The power line got knocked off my bus. You really think I could afford a car with just this job? What about your court interpreters job? I dressed up like a man. But the judge saw changes, thanks to the oestrogen. He asked if he should call me Mr or Miss, so I told him. Then my contract got terminated. Right, look, I'll see if I can get you some more hours around here. But I want you to talk to your parents about getting some help. I want you outta that flophouse! Not gonna happen. My mom learned how to block my calls. Hello. Richard? When's the last time you took your temperature? Bye. (PHONE CLICKS) Looks like you got the wheel. Emergency? Maybe not. Still... TV: In addition to the president's failure to visit the quilt today, the activist group called Act Up threw ashes on to the White House lawn and openly criticised the quilt display. We need to focus our efforts on the living! All the quilt does is lay down a blanket. And where? On the White House lawn, where clearly inside nobody gives a (BLEEP). We want the same thing ` the government off its ass. They pressure directly; we get America to give a damn. Why attack us? (KNOCKING) Cleve, I know that you're in there. Come out or I'm coming in. Go away. I can break it down if I have to, Cleve. I'm a mess and you're all sweaty. Mm-hm. Now you're sweaty too. The president didn't show up again. And you thought he would? I am a closet optimist. (SIGHS) And you're beautiful. I'm happy to be of use. Baby. Do you ever imagine when you looked at all those names taped up to the side of a building in San Francisco that one day there'd be 60,000 people visiting the quilt, huh? That's not failure. Baby, I love you. And I wanna see you, strong or weak. We can see each other, good day or bad. OK? OK. (SHOWER RUNS) Get in. (MUSIC PLAYS) (TV PLAYS) Roma! Annie! We're here. Oh God. What happened? I walked home by myself. You never do that again, you understand. (TV CONTINUES) Do you think he could be my dad? We don't know who your father is, Annie, but I can assure you it's not Ted Danson. Could we check? Richard? Baby? Oh God. Richard! Richard! You're burning up. All right. Richard, you know the drill, right? Let's get your bath. Come on, baby, OK. (WATER RUNS) (SNIFFLES) You're doin' fine. You're doing fine, Rich. Please. You know this makes you feel good, right? Eh, Richard. Richard. Richard. I'm scared. You're OK, baby. You're OK. SOFTLY: Richard. Richard, Richard. Baby. Richard! (SOBS SOFTLY) Your T cells have dropped again. They're now down to 425. If it gets much lower, you're going to be open to opportunistic infections. So what are you recommending? You know that too. Marty Delaney. I'll call him right back. My new assistant. Nice. Cleve. Now, I can put you on an antiretroviral. The guys taking AZT are miserable, and most are still dying. I can't be crapping myself on flights and still do my work. There's a new drug called DDI. Might be easier to tolerate. But similar issues. I mean, there's nothing that actually works? We don't have access to anything in the pipeline, anything new. Fight alongside your pals at Act Up, get the FDA to start early trials. I do fight alongside my pals at Act Up ` when they're not fighting against me. We have no time for infighting. Yeah. We need to start you on these meds, Cleve. It's time. Carole! Carole, you want the support of this building for you taking that open supervisor's seat, you have to be more than just the dyke of the Democratic Party. You think I'm some kinda Democratic Party puppet? No. I am going to insist that the party walk the precincts with us the same way we have with them, OK? Give me a break, give me a break. I want a strategy. I want a strategy that includes the kind of women - this building serves. The end. - (APPLAUSE) (INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS) I'm ready to take her seriously if she can get the Democrats behind us, but do you think what's left of the gay community will want to back a lesbian with sharp elbows like that? She'll need them to win the district. She was president of the ?? She has gay support. Yeah, but we need the old power gays too. Maybe we should speak to Cleve. Well, that's good. What? What's up? I'm wondering about the legal ramifications` Annie's been asking about her father. And I know I've only been living with them for less` Forget it. When you sent me on that spermy mission I made a two-way promise through my contacts that if there was a kid, there could only be contact after she was 18. Well, she's gotten curious sooner than we would've anticipated. So you're gonna bow to pressure from a 10-year-old? She's a very persuasive 10. No way. I'm a woman of my word. Shoshanna. I know that your battered women's project pays very low rent, and I really wanna keep it like that. So I'm gonna need you to go trace that sperm back from whence it came. Who are you? I'm the man that lives here. Who are you? Ron! Someone's in here. What are you doing with my stuff? What's going on? What are you doin'? My friend, you're trespassing right now. Look, this is me and Richard. We've lived here for 20 years. Yeah, well, Richard's gone. This is our family's house now. This is my house. Now get out, please! Just get out or I'll call the cops. I told you. We should've just tried to contact his` If anyone's gonna call the cops, it's us. This my damn house! Now get the hell out! Hey! Ron? Hey, hey. Not lookin' like you're up for a fight right now, man. (EXCLAIMS) Jake, just call the cops. (CRASH!) Where's the camera? Where'd you put his camera?! No! Hey, get your hands off that. Fine, take it! Get out! Get outta here! Come back here again, you're leavin' in handcuffs. (SOBS BREATHLESSLY) - (U2'S 'ONE') - # Did I disappoint you # or leave a bad taste in your mouth? # You act like you never had love # and you want me to go without. # Well, it's too late tonight... # No, listen to me. I want you to get KNXV there and KPNX. Yes, a big crowd's great, but it means a hell of a lot more if the press covers it. Hearts and minds ` that's what we're after. Thank you. (SIGHS) Babe. If you want all the gays, you'll need the support of somebody more popular than me ` or universally well liked. Mike, who is the most popular gay politician in San Francisco? Tom Ammiano. I supported him for Board of Education, but he's kind of a clown. Stand-up comic and somebody who's really good and politically unafraid and funny. The gays love him. Do you think he'll support Carole? She's... very aggressive. I'm happy to connect you. Just like that? What? I'm just a little surprised how easy it is for you to help a lesbian fill a gay man's seat. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) Listen, most of my friends who are sick and dying are being cared for by women. So our endorsement or help, it's the least we can do. I mean... this isn't about political alliances any more. We're family. (GENTLE MUSIC) Cops said I had to go to court. Said it could take months. So just, uh, trying to finish Richard's quilt now, you know? Start on mine next. I want them to put mine right next to his. He's gonna fight for his house. We're not dead yet. There's too much left to do to surrender now. 9 How does it feel to be a father on Father's Day whose son has died of Aids? Do you know how he got it? We didn't know Jerry was gay until he told us he was sick. You had no problem with your son's homosexuality? Sir, I'm a combat veteran from the Korean War. I spent months in the hospital with my son and other men and women fighting this disease. I saw as much courage on that Aids ward as I saw in the battlefield. I'm proud of my son. I'm proud of his friends. And these men, they are our boys. Hi, Mom. Hi! Where's Dad? He couldn't come. Really? Yeah. Come on. After all the names were read, Cleve spoke so beautifully to all the parents... and fathers. He's always been a great speaker. Yeah, he does know how to talk. Is that how you two met? Um, no. When I met Cleve, I didn't even know what he did` How many trips are you making with this quilt each month, Cleve? Um, two or three. Perhaps if you spent a little less time on the road, you might get your strength and your appetite back. I like being on the road, Dad. Actually, you know, it's an interesting story how Ricardo and I met. Um, I was in SF General, recovering from being stabbed, as you know. I was a little annoyed the doctors wouldn't let me go. And I looked up one day and there he was, just standing there. Anyway, I snuck out and he came with me. We went back to my place, and all I wanted to do was kiss him. So I did, and we fell into bed and we made love. Cleve. When we were finished, he got up to take a shower, and I thought, 'What have I done?' I mean, I hadn't done anything unsafe, but... I tell strangers on TV that I have this disease, and I hadn't told this amazing, amazing person, and I knew how wrong that was. And so I made a plan. I thought, 'I'll write him a letter and I'll just tell him I couldn't say those words, 'and I'll beg forgiveness and I'll tell him that I love him.' And then the bathroom door opens and he's standing there with tears pouring down his face. And I asked him what was wrong, and he said, 'I think you're gonna hate me when I tell you.' VOICE CRACKS: I said, 'I don't think so.' (CLEVE BREATHES SHAKILY) We love each other, Dad. And we support each other, despite all of it. Isn't that worthy of acknowledgement? CLEVE: So many of us had been rejected by our own families, we rejected family, in turn, as old-fashioned. Till we began to realise how much we needed it too. I had nowhere else to sleep tonight. Come inside. It's not safe out there. (ANGRY VOICES ARGUE OUTSIDE) What's the agenda about HIV infection? WOMAN: Teen pregnancy! And teen pregnancy. (VOICES CLAMOUR) Oh! OK, Mr Ammiano. Tom! Carole Migden, lesbian candidate for City Supervisor. How are you? Of course, Carole. Of course. So good to have you here. Go ahead, sit. Tom, Carole is just about to tell us what she's going to do for teen pregnancy in the Mission High School. Do you support free condoms? Oh, yes, I do. Do you? Of course! For everyone at all times. WOMAN: Amen! In fact, I'm wearing one right now. Maybe you could pull it off, Carole. The free condoms, I mean. The free condoms. (LAUGHS) Seriously, I was impressed with your fight for domestic partnerships. Oh. As Chair of the Democratic Central Committee, that was a bold political risk. Well, thank you. Now let's see how willing you are to kiss my gay arse and get this endorsement. - Well, fortunately, your ass isn't the only gay one here. - (WOMEN ASSENT) Because I can keep that seat on the board at a time when too many of your skinny gay asses are droppin' dead. - While mine just keeps getting wider by the minute. - (LAUGHTER) TOM: You've finally found yourselves a funny lesbian! I found the first link in the semen chain. She never got a name, but we're gonna ask for an address. The call's in. OK. Thanks. (VOICES OVERLAP) I just don't think I can go through what I've seen, Cleve, or put you through it. Remember what we said. We're not gonna lose hope, OK? I won't let you. And you won't let me. Yes. That's our deal. Our deal. That's our deal. Mm-hm. Hey, time to eat. I'm really not hungry, Dad. You will be. I read marijuana helps with appetite. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) I have a client whose son got arrested for selling it once, and Dad likes to see his son eat. Uh` Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come here. WHISPERS: Go. I've been reading something called Aids Treatment News, and the new reverse transcriptase inhibitor, DDC, it's stuck in clinical trials, but some groups are after expanded access, correct? So maybe there's a way for you to get them first. There's a group called Act Up. They're out of New York. Yeah, I know. They don't care for my approach. Yeah, so I understand. And, uh, like father like son. I wanna make sure your pride doesn't get in the way of your welfare. Talk to them. For me. Ricardo, you'll make sure he does? Yes, sir. What was your relationship to the deceased? We... were lovers. When he got more ill, I was his caretaker and his companion. (EXHALES SHARPLY) In all that time, I never once met the defendants. They didn't even know that he had passed until a friend told them he had read about it in the paper. Which of these relationships sound like a family, Your Honour? I argue the answer is obvious. What we consider our family and what the law considers family may be two different things. But this is a nation of law, so I have no choice but to follow it. Case is dismissed. I'm sorry. (BANGS GAVEL) 9 There have always been homosexual people in the military, and I think advances will go on. NEWSREADER: Not everyone is sure President Clinton will keep his promises to gays. NEWSREADER: White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers signalled that Clinton may be forced to back off his promise. CLEVE: I was hopeful and sceptical of the new president's promises. Lives depended on him making good. We had to take the quilt ` our lives ` to his front step, and we needed money and volunteers from here all the way to New York. And that's where I went. All the way to the basement of New York's gay community centre to Act Up. They're killing us! MAN: Exactly! They are killing us! Why are they only studying AZT and me-too drugs just like it? They hit one viral enzyme, allowing HIV to mutate, and the drugs stop working! (PEOPLE SHOUT AGREEMENT) Begging for compassion with a quilt not workin' how you'd hoped? If a million people show up to the quilt display next year, Congress will see the consequence of their inaction and a US president may finally acknowledge that our lives have value. But look you. You're getting sicker so now you come to us? Just because you're too small-minded to comprehend two strategies at once doesn't mean we're not after the same thing, Jason! There's your anger, Cleve. How 'bout we use it to burn that quilt? Long as I can roll you up in it first, Larry. Peter's got a group that's communicating directly with the pharmaceutical companies and the NIH. Hey. Not everyone's on board, but he's who you talk to about drugs. They've tripled the Aids budget at NIH, but we've gotta push for new classes of drugs, find a combination that works. But even if they find one, there's no access, no legal access. And this president has already broken his promises. Look, I get your hearts-and-minds thing, but this is a genocide. That's why we're angry. # Everybody plays the fool sometimes. # There's no exception to the rule. # Listen, baby. # Hi! Guess I'm the gay you've been looking for. It's Tom Ammiano? Of all the gay men in The Castro? WHISPERS: Holy moly. Well, it's gonna be special. He wants to come here. He wants to meet her. Like I said, it's gonna be special. What are we gonna tell Annie? I'm afraid that she wanted a father so that she could feel more legit with straight people. Tom's not gonna do that. No. What's worse? What if she likes him? (LAUGHS) (SHOWER RUNS) (SOLEMN MUSIC) (DOOR CLOSES) Hey, babe. My mother isn't doing well. (SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES) You were gonna leave before I got back? Well, I was gonna leave a note. I'm happy I don't have to now. What about your dad? (SIGHS) Maybe I can mend things with him, like you have. I'll come with you. No. Listen, is she sick or is it you? (ZIPS SUITCASE) I know it's easier said that done to share something frightening, but we have to. You're a fighter. But I am not. Hey, hey, hey. Don't do this, OK? Don't give up. They're gonna find something, I promise you. Look, I just wanna try and make things work with my family. That's all. I should go now. Honey. I love you. Love you too, baby. I'll be back very soon. I am not doing this, Cecilia. No one wants to help somebody like me. Mr Ken Jones. He's a decorated, honourably discharged E-6, and he's here for military medical attention. Tell me about your symptoms, Ken. I've had pneumocystis pneumonia once, I have CMB in my eyes, and my T-cells are basically non-existent. (SWALLOWS) OK, I just need to see if all this is in` He signed up for three tours of Vietnam. And now he'd like to see a real doctor. ANNOUNCER: It's a new year now from Paris to London, from New York to San Antonio, and only an hour to go here in California before we drop our own confetti, toast... MAN: Go down on me for a 20, babe? Go home to Mommy. You can't handle this. That your balls talking, tranny? (KEYS JINGLE) (SCREAMS) (CRIES OUT) (BLOWS LAND, CECILIA SCREAMS) (CLEVE COUGHS) You OK? Oh, I'm allergic to the only treatment for PCP pneumonia. And it's past midnight in Texas and I haven't heard from Ricardo yet, so. (SIREN WHOOPS) (GROANS) Oh God. (CLEVE COUGHS) We apologise, Officer. It's almost midnight and if we don't` ...you turn from princesses to pumpkins at midnight. That's not exactly how that fairy tale goes, but essentially you're right. Do I know you? Well, I'm sure you've probably tried to beat me to death before. And I may have tried to blow up your squad car, back in the day. But for now it's New Year's ` (CHUCKLES) and look at me. So if you don't mind, we're just looking for one last disco ball before midnight. Do me a favour. Between here and there, can you at least try and drive straight? (DISCO MUSIC) Is that a joint? Give me some of that. You've got pneumonia, Cleve. It's New Year! (HORN BEEPS) Whoo! # Do what you want to do. Come on! (COUGHS, RETCHES) # ...to do what you want to do. # You've got to live your life. # Do what you want to do. # Welcome. (CHUCKLES) Come in. I brought my gang, all right? Good to see you. You remember Tim? How are you? OK, she'll be down in one second. So, did you ever think a flip decision 12 years ago would lead to this? It wasn't all that flip. I just didn't think I'd get to meet her. Sure. Hi, honey. I guess I'm your dad. Yeah. Do you wanna come see my room? Yeah. Yeah. Happy New Year, dear heart. You passed out while smoking ` and I assume drinking. I wasn't drinking. I have some news. But this doesn't go beyond us. You were probably right not to take AZT at the dosage we were prescribing. I'm trying something new, but you have to know the FDA has not approved it yet. I'm combining AZT, DDT and 3TC` They were talking about this at Act Up in New York. I'm not saying it'll be easy to tolerate or that you'll even feel better, but you might not die this year if you can bear it. You're out of options, Cleve. And this work you're doing ` regular people are starting to give a damn. So for your sake, for Ricardo's, but especially for our people, try this regimen. (MUSIC) (VOMITS, GROANS) CLEVE: 'Oh God, those pills made me feel like hell. 'But I did wake up with an erection for the first time in months.' My T-cells were up to 500. But Ricardo was hard to reach again, so I knew I had to get him the pills too. NEWSREADER: President Clinton ushers in a new era for the armed forces ` 'Don't ask, don't tell'. I don't care if they do keep it a secret. No fruit should be able to serve in our military. Huh? Not after all we've given to this country. Ridiculous, right? (ON TV) MAN: Let's pretend gay people simply don't exist, even though we know they do. 9 We say with full dignity and glory that we are fed up having to justify ourselves! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) And we are sickened by the hatred... They said I could go with them to meet Tom's family. I didn't ask. To New Jersey? Well, it's certainly something we can talk about. Mom, that always means no. No, it means we'll talk about it. No means no. It's a good chance, right, to meet those interesting New Jersey people. But part of the fun of being an out-of-the-box family is that we get to do all this new stuff, but we gotta talk about it first so we can figure it out, right? And we'll figure it out. Right? She's kind of like this whole new sort of daughter. So why not give her all the information she needs to figure out how to do that, even if that means... bringing a gay man into our lives. (EXHALES SHARPLY, GROANS) In a way, it's kind of like we're family already. (GENTLE STRING MUSIC) When you were small, you loved to dress up. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) I ` We ` thought that just was for fun. It... There are doctors now in Thailand who could help me. You want... You want to be my daughter? Our daughter? I always was. How much would be? (SOBS) Aww! Gay dads. I wonder if that'll ever be a thing. Oh, please. CLEVE: Carole Migden won her election. So did openly gay Susan Leal and Leslie Katz. Journalists called it a 'lesbian sweep' as our sisters secured the seats that gay men once held before our lives were ripped away. It happened before my package got there, when, um, a doctor in Texas told him to consider writing a will. He'd always said that when he started to get sick, he would end things himself. He didn't want me to see it, didn't want me to see him suffer. (SOBS SOFTLY) SOBS: No. No, no, no. If he'd just held on a few more weeks, he might've gotten better. But he didn't know. I would give anything to see his eyes again, (VOICE CRACKS) to have him hold me... just one more time. (OASIS' 'WONDERWALL') # Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you. # By now you should've somehow realised what you gotta do. # I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do # about you now. # You don't need to lecture me about the need for expanded access. And I would appreciate it if you didn't set fire to the quilt today. EMOTIONALLY: I lost my lover two weeks ago, and I made him this panel. It's working, isn't it? All these people, they're seeing us. I hope so. NEWSREADER: This may be the last time the entire quilt is displayed. He should do it. We should get the President to visit the quilt. What? No! Ink's barely dry on 'Don't ask, don't tell'. He'll get crucified out there. (DIALS PHONE) Betty, hi. It's Richard Socarides. How are you? Good. Does the President have lunch plans? CLEVE: And by that year in that display, a generation after the epidemic began, 342,000 Americans had died. And still I had failed to get the attention of the Federal Government, still no US president had visited the quilt. (SOMBRE STRING MUSIC) And then, like in a dream, all the people around me started to back away, and I saw men in suits with thin ropes keeping everybody back. And suddenly I was on my own in this ever-increasing field of quilt panels. And there they were, the President and Mrs Clinton. She said she'd known people who had died, so we looked for their names. (EMOTIVE STRING MUSIC) And I said, 'Mr President, thank you for being the first United States president to ever visit the quilt. 'But I, sir, am only standing here today...' ...because I received access to new classes and combinations of drugs that others can't get. And we need you to ensure access for everybody, because this is not just about gay people, it's not just about Americans; this is about families everywhere being ripped apart. And you, sir, can end this. We need your support. And this time, it must be unequivocal. (EMOTIVE STRING MUSIC BUILDS) Captions by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017