WITH HER glistening diamonds, violet eyes, eight marriages and status as an old Hollywood elite, Elizabeth Taylor was larger than life. Her death last week brought about the end of an era and the final scene of a drama in which she was the lifelong star. She was stunningly beautiful at the height of her career and as can be inferred from her eight marriages, Taylor was always in love.
Taylor graced the Charlottesville area with these legendary attributes several times. Old Hollywood came to Albemarle County in the 1950s with the filming of the movie Giant. In the 1970s, Taylor returned to the area and aided her then-husband John Warner in his campaign for the Senate. With him, she visited the University Grounds, making visits to Alderman Library and the Rotunda.\nYet this is not at all why Taylor is important to University students, and it is certainly not why she should be remembered. Her real legacy is not tied in with her movies, her beauty or even her marriages. Taylor's legacy is ultimately larger than the woman herself - a legacy attached to a story of not only immeasurable pain, but also hope.
The outbreak of AIDS in the United States in 1981 came swiftly and revealed how fear and ignorance lead to hatred and prejudice. There was talk of a 4-H club for those at risk of AIDS - gays, Haitians, hemophiliacs and heroin addicts, with hookers and hemophiliacs often interchanged. Those infected were stigmatized and were by default assumed to be one of the four.
Victims of the disease were shunned by society. In a prominent case in 1985, a 14-year-old named Ryan White, a hemophiliac with AIDS, was barred from school. His fight to attend school was met with immense cruelty.
Because of the enormous stigma surrounding AIDS, public figures either did nothing or actively demonized its victims. President Reagan waited until 1987 to make a speech about the epidemic, six years after the initial AIDS outbreak. The government consistently denied AIDS research funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and from 1981 to 1982 the organization spent only $1 million on AIDS research.
In 1986, William Buckley argued in The New York Times that gay men with HIV should have their status forcibly tattooed on their rear ends, and that drug users with HIV should have their status forcibly tattooed on their arms. Bob Grant of the Christian Voice lobbying organization argued AIDS was deserved because its victims were "people with unsafe and immoral behavior."
With her fame, her beauty and her money, Taylor could have ignored AIDS victims, but she did not. In this virulent climate of stigma, prejudice and misinformation, Taylor and a handful of other courageous voices stood unwaveringly with victims of AIDS.
She offered support for victims when it was unpopular to do so and when the stigma was so immense that it could have brought down her career. In 1985 she helped organize the Commitment to Life dinner that was put on by AIDS Project Los Angeles. While planning the dinner, Taylor stated, "People not only slammed doors in my face and hung up on me, but I received death threats."
Despite the backlash, Taylor pressed forward and the dinner raised $1 million, matching the CDC allotment for AIDS research from 1981 to 1982. Also in 1985, she helped found The American Foundation for AIDS Research. For the rest of her life she remained committed to those with AIDS, making visits to hospice centers, personally lobbying Congress, actively organizing fundraisers and always being outspoken. Taylor's advocacy over the years played a central role in replacing the mass demonization of AIDS sufferers with the love, acceptance and support they deserve.
This is why Taylor's life is a model for University students. Taylor put her reputation on the line to do the right thing. She risked a decades-long career and her status as an American icon to counter injustice and wrongdoing against those suffering from AIDS. She bravely spoke up at a time when society viewed AIDS victims as deviant and unworthy of assistance. She endured the criticism and the "guilt by association" stigma because she knew in her heart that the persecution of those with AIDS was wrong.
As soon-to-be college graduates, we must follow in the footsteps of Taylor and use personal success to lend a helping hand to those who are persecuted and those who are stigmatized. Like Taylor, never abandon the oppressed because of societal criticism and never stop fighting for those less fortunate. While lending your voice to those too afraid or too marginalized to use their own, keep her wise words deep in your heart: "I will not be silenced and I will not give up and I will not be ignored."
Jamie Dailey's column usually appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.dailey@cavalierdaily.com.
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