"I\'m not ready to make nice, I\'m not ready to back down, I\'m still mad as hell and I don\'t have time to round and round and round……….."  The Dixie Chicks, I\'m not ready to Make Nice, from Taking the Long Way Around

That is pretty much how I feel after attending the AIDS Vigil last night.  Yes it is nice to remember those who have gone before, and to support those who are living with HIV/AIDS but were is the anger?  Where is the rightous indignation with a government that makes us jump through hoops to get meds if we don\'t have insurance, or if our insurance won\'t pay for them?  A government that keeps getting stingier and stingier with research dollars and then tries to put unreasonable restriction on organizations applying for public funds to provide AIDS educatiom, and care.  Why aren\'t we mad as hell? 

Last night there was probably 500 people at the vigil.  Where is the 5,000 that should have been there?  Last night\'s march went by several bars and the people in the bars came out and WATCHED!  They couldn\'t give up their cocktail andi get in the street with the rest of us,; they choose to just watch.  Sort of like the Germans watching their jewish neighbors being hauled away.

No wonder nobody takes us seriously as a political force, yes they come to us for our votes, but they don\'t take their promises seriously because we don\'t seem to take ourselves seriously and nothing is going to change until we take ourselves seriously, and demand that they do!  (Yes I know there are a lot of people on this site who are not gay, however while one of us is not free all of us are not free!)

I hope every one here will take a stand, join a protest, send a post card to your representative in government.  Just do something to take a stand!