Monday, July 23, 2012

Love is the Cure

"Because the AIDS disease is caused by a virus but the AIDS epidemic is not."
 Sir Elton John, flamboyant rock star of my youth and song writer extraordinaire, touched by an ostracized teenage hemophiliac, Ryan White, to become champion of all those affected by HIV/AIDS and founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation still writes a compelling love song.

In his keynote address at a special session of the 19th International AIDS Conference, Sir Elton reminds us of the human responsibility each bears in this battle that can save millions, because "AIDS is fueled by stigma, by hate, by misinformation, by ignorance, by indifference," and "no matter who you are or who you love; no matter where you live or how you live; no matter what you have or haven't done, everyone deserves compassion, everyone deserves dignity, everyone, everyone, everyone deserves love."

Sir Elton's keynote address begins about 10 minutes into this webcast but the entire session is worthy of a listen.

Captain Fantastic indeed.

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