You’d think, in this age of connectivity, with access to zillions of infolinks per second, that homophobia – and the ignorance that causes it – would have faded. For some, apparently not.
Even one of the top-rated television shows, “Grey’s Anatomy,” had a recent case of slurring by the tongue. By many accounts, the actor who portrays head surgeon Dr. Preston Burke, recently called a cast-mate what’s been termed “a homophobic slur.”
While the “Grey’s Anatomy” ruckus is national in scale, Denver has its own little neighborhood version of homophobia. It has reared its too-transparent head in the Highland neighborhood in Denver. Highland is a nice, well-established area, with some families going back four generations. It’s got an elementary school and a recreation center. And that, for some, is the problem.
That’s because the non-profit Del Norte housing development organization has proposed building, in the Highland neighborhood, an apartment unit to house 16 homeless persons with HIV/AIDS. It’s called the Juan Diego project.
The apparent homophobia was brought out in an indirect fashion at a recent Denver City Council hearing. City Council was to vote on acceptance of a $500,000 loan from HUD to help build the Juan Diego project. The money could only go toward supportive housing for homeless persons with HIV/AIDS. A “nay” vote meant no money, and no Juan Diego project. And no much-needed additional housing for the doubly unfortunate homeless who are infected with HIV/AIDS.
The City Council chamber was packed, electricity arcing in the air. Twenty-eight people spoke, about three-fourths in favor of the Juan Diego project. Many who spoke “for” were from the gay and HIV/AIDS community; others represented homeless and housing agencies like the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless; still others were Highland residents in vigorous support.
Those against were Highland residents, mainly homeowners, some with children. The objections they raised regarding Del Norte’s financial standing were answered. But the primary objection to the proposed project seemed to be the proximity of the Juan Diego location to the grade school and to the rec center across the street.
Could the inclusion of homeless people, particularly those with HIV/AIDS, into the Highland neighborhood be an underlying issue? Several Highland residents with families began their statements with, “This isn’t about homelessness or HIV/AIDS.” They then proceeded to state their concern for the “safety” of their children. Translation: For “safety,” substitute “fear of AIDS.”
Fear of AIDS has been around since its discovery in 1981. For some, that fear has never dissipated. No matter how advanced our medicines, no matter how much accurate information is out there, fear is still around. Even in Highland.
Thankfully, for most knowledgeable people, especially in the human services sector, HIV/AIDS is a given, a medical fact. Now that homelessness has taken its rightful place in our cultural conscience, we can look at the complex relationship between HIV/AIDS treatment, housing, and the homeless in a more comprehensive way.
When it came time for City Council to vote, after a moving statement by Councilwoman Judy Montero (whose district includes Highland), and after comments and questions from other councilmembers, it came finally to Council President Michael Hancock.
Before his call for a vote, he made his statement. It was majestic. This, he said, is without doubt an issue of human rights. Then he told us about his brother, who had died of AIDS in 1996. He mentioned the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his call for human rights for all.
And when Hancock’s gavel thundered down, calling for the vote on this most human of issues, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of Juan Diego.
Right now, the Colorado AIDS Project has about 1,900 HIV/AIDS clients. Eighteen percent of them are homeless. That’s about 340 people right now who need the special support that the Juan Diego project will provide.
Obviously, there is a larger need for homeless HIV/AIDS residential housing. Let’s hope that the next time a much-needed homeless housing proposal comes up, it won’t have to face the small, but vocal, opposition that ignorance plays so prominent a part in amplifying.
Stephen Terence Gould is a Colorado Voices writer and independent scholar in Denver.
