He tells GSN: 'I'm baffled that some people don't even know what amfAR is'
Cheyenne Jackson showed up at LA's Outfest film festival on Sunday
to help remind people - especially young people - that there is still no cure
for AIDS.
'It's insane. Too many people don't know what's going on,' the Tony
Award nominee told Gay Star News following a screening of the documentary The
Battle for amfAR.
For the past seven years, Jackson has served as an international
ambassador for amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) the landmark
AIDS advocacy group spearheaded in 1985 by Dr. Mathilde Kim and Elizabeth
Taylor.
But now that AIDS is no longer a certain death sentence for those
who have access to the life-saving drugs that have been developed, Jackson says
he is 'baffled' by the indifference many young people show towards the disease.
'It's the arrogance of youth,' he said. 'The lack of education -
especially among the twentysomethings - they don't know their history and it
pisses me off. I talk to these 22 or 23 years olds and there is so much rampant
unsafe sex and they think, "Oh, I'll take a pill."'
He added: 'Half of them don't even know what Stonewall is and I
just want to knonk their heads together.'
But instead of konking heads, he is getting the word out and
traveling to wherever he is needed by amfAR.
'The technical term is I'm their bitch,' Jackson joked during a
panel discussion after the screening. 'I'll do anything for them. I'm literally
their bitch and I love it. It has totally enriched my life. I know we are going
to find a cure in my lifetime and it's such a blessing to be a part of it.'
AmfAR succeeded in lobbying the government to fund AIDS research
and HIV treatment education. The story of how it was formed during the early
days of the AIDS crisis is told in the new short documentary from Oscar winners
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.
There is dramatic footage of Taylor, who died in 2011, lobbying for
funding before the US Senate and saying to the senators: 'I will not be
silenced and I will not be ignored and I will not give up. ... I will come back
again and again and again.'
It was Taylor's star wattage that helped to bring attention and
funding to amfAR's work and Jackson says a superstar of that caliber is needed
now to connect with those in their 20s.
'I'm baffled that some people don't even know what amfAR is,' he
said. 'I think we need this generation's Elizabeth Taylor - someone beautiful
and well spoken like Jennifer Lawrence.'
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