Michael Callen
Michael Callen | |
---|---|
AIDS -related complications | |
Occupation(s) | Musician, author, and AIDS activist |
Known for | Early AIDS activist |
Michael Callen (April 11, 1955 – December 27, 1993) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, author, and
As a major contributor to the foundation of AIDS activism, specifically activism from
AIDS activist
Activism with Sonnabend, Berkowitz, and Dworkin
In 1983, Callen co-authored the book
Inspired by Sonnabend's theory, Callen joined with fellow person with AIDS Richard Berkowitz and partner Richard Dworkin to write an essay entitled "We Know Who We Are: Two Gay Men Declare War on Promiscuity" for the New York Native. What the men referred to as "promiscuity" was the frequent backroom, unprotected sexual encounters that dominated the gay sexual culture of the time and place. In the post-Stonewall Riots and gay liberation years, the popular belief was that sex was a revolutionary act, and more sex was equivalent to being more liberated.[3]
The essay, in which gay men with AIDS placed the blame on themselves and their community for the spread of the disease, was controversial. Callen and Berkowitz were criticized for their alleged internalized homophobia and potentially detrimental stance on AIDS. Berkowitz and Callen, however, highlighted their authority to speak out against promiscuity as gay men with AIDS.
In 1990 he appeared in Rosa von Praunheim's documentary Positive.
Denver Principles and People With AIDS Advocacy
Callen went on to become a pioneer advocate for the representation of people with AIDS in AIDS activism leadership. In 1983, the idea of people with AIDS representing themselves in activism brought Michael Callen to an AIDS forum in Denver. The people with AIDS at the forum attended workshops and exchanged stories of their experiences with AIDS through caucuses.
Callen and Bobbi Campbell became delegates for the other men in attendance, and the two of them synthesized the consensus reached over the course of the forum in the Denver Principles. The document was read during the closing session of the conference and was met with an immediate embrace from the audience of gay and lesbian medical professionals.
The Denver Principles consist of four sections: recommendations for health care professionals, recommendations for all people, recommendations for people with AIDS, and rights of people with AIDS. The principles establish the identifier of People With AIDS as opposed to "victim" or "patient," encourage health care professionals to carefully consider the emotional and psychological effects of AIDS in addition to the medical, highlight the importance of activism and ally-ship from within and outside the community of People With AIDS, and affirms the basic yet fundamental rights including life, love, dignity, and medical confidentiality, of People with AIDS. The Denver Principles draw inspiration from Campbell's nursing background, Callen's work with his doctor, and concepts from women's health activism, as well as the testimonies of men at the forum. They ultimately led to the founding of the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA).
Organizational Leadership and Later Activism
Callen was the founder of numerous grassroots organizations in various arenas of AIDS activism. He co-founded the New York People With AIDS Health Group, an underground buyer's club that provided access to new drugs and treatments for AIDS and AIDS related illnesses before the FDA approved them, prompting the FDA to ease restrictions and regulations in the drug approval process.[4] He also founded the Community Research Initiative for people with AIDS and their doctors to test new drugs through clinical trials.
Callen was frequently seen on television talking about AIDS. Appearances included
Opposition
Despite his career and prominence as an activist, Callen was met with resentment, suspicion and opposition from others. Since he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1982 and survived over a decade, people speculated as to whether his diagnosis was real or fabricated to get attention. He responded to that criticism by releasing his medical reports and pictures of his lungs which showed his pulmonary Kaposi's Sarcoma.[3] Additionally, Callen stood by his belief in the multifactorial theory when there was scientific proof that HIV was the cause of AIDS.
Callen openly questioned the HIV theory of AIDS and was especially critical of
Honors
In June 2019, Callen was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the
Performance career
Michael Callen briefly was the lead of the a cappella group Mike & the Headsets. In 1982, Callen, along with Janet Cleary, Pamela Brandt, and Richard Dworkin formed a queer rock-and-roll band called Low Life. After Low Life disbanded, Callen's solo album Purple Heart was released and quickly acclaimed as a staple of gay men's music.
He was a founding member of the gay male
Additionally, Callen made cameo appearances in the films Philadelphia (1993) and Zero Patience (1993), in which he famously performed a song in falsetto as the fictitious "Miss HIV".[3]
In partnership with
Bibliography
- 1983: How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach (co-author)
- 1990: Surviving AIDS (author)
Discography
Albums
- as part of The Flirtations
- The Flirtations (1990)
- The Flirtations: Live Out on the Road (1991)
- Feeding The Flame: Songs By Men to End AIDS (1992)
- Solo
- Purple Heart (1988)
- Legacy – a 2-CD album (posthumously)
Filmography
- Zero Patience (1993) - Miss HIV
- Philadelphia (1993) - The Flirtations (final film role)
See also
- Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, an organization in New York City named for Michael Callen and Audre Lorde.
- ACRIA – organization co-founded by Callen and Joseph Sonnabend.
References
- ^ Dunlap, David W. (December 29, 1993). "Michael Callen, Singer and Expert on Coping With AIDS, Dies at 38". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ISBN 9781953035158.
- ^ S2CID 158389650.
- ProQuest 280621381.
- ^ "Immunity Resource Foundation – Meditel Film and Video Archive". Immunity.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ Glasses-Baker, Becca (June 27, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn". metro.us. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Rawles, Timothy (June 19, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Laird, Cynthia (February 27, 2019). "Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Sachet, Donna (April 4, 2019). "Stonewall 50". San Francisco Bay Times. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ProQuest 1862305966.
Further reading
- Jones, Matthew J. (November 3, 2020). Love Don't Need a Reason: The Life & Music of Michael Callen. Punctum Books. ISBN 978-1-953035-14-1.
External links
- Official posthumous home page of Michael Callen
- Michael Callen at IMDb
- Remarks of Michael Callen to the New York congressional delegation 1983 at TheBody.com
- Photographs of the real people from Randy Shilts' history of the AIDS crisis And the Band Played On