Emotions ran high among audience members as they listened to Cleve Jones speak on Wednesday, Sept. 15, at the University of Massachusetts.
In an event titled, “An Evening with Cleve Jones: Four Decades of Activism,” Jones spoke of his experiences as an organizer in the Gay Rights Movement, his activism in the AIDS movement, and his personal experiences as an HIV-positive gay individual.
Jones has been an AIDS and LGBT activist since the 1970s when he worked as an intern in Harvey Milk’s office, the first openly gay elected politician.
In the early 1980s, while AIDS was still a new and widely misunderstood issue, Jones was a founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, a group that has grown into one of the largest advocacy organizations for people living in the United States with AIDS.
A full length story on Jones’ speech will be available soon.
