Bailey, Gary

NAME: Gary K. Bailey

Biography:

He was lovers with David Bertugli.

From an article on the 1993 National AIDS Exhibit in The Progressive:

"AIDS activist Gary Bailey acknowledges that the demographics of AIDS have changed drastically in the last decade, as many more heterosexuals have contracted the disease. But he says, "Gay people need and deserve the dignity of representation." And hiding the history of the struggle over AIDS ignores the politics which allowed the disease to go unchecked for so many years."

[AIDS Quilt is here.]

Gary Keith Bailey of 1238 Callowhill St., Philadelphia, PA, after an extended illness died April 13 at Hahnemann Hospital. He was born Dec. 6, 1951 in Silver Spring, MD. to Clarence M. and Josephine S. Bailey of Winston-Salem. He attended public schools in Winston-Salem and Morristown, NJ. He was a graduate of the Fine Arts School of UNC-Greensboro and also graduated from the Philadelphia School of Textile Design. His career for a number of years was as a clothing designer. Clothing under his own label were carried in New York stores and other parts of the country. In later years he was an educator in AIDS prevention, in which activity he received many accolades. Besides his parents, he is survived by a brother and his wife, Dr. James and Karen Bailey of Atlanta, as well as an aunt, Amanda Saunders of Eden, an uncle, Jack Bailey of Staford, VA, as well as numerous cousins and many, may friends. A memorial service will be 1PM April 26 at Peacehaven Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. The service will be conducted by Dr. Mike Jamison, Dr. Ray Benfield, and the Rev. Vickie Tamer Another memorial service will be on May 7 in Philadelphia.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 2000

Gary Bailey, 48, a tireless AIDS educator whose personal story reached thousands of people in the Philadelphia area, died Thursday at Hahnemann University Hospital of complications of AIDS. Mr. Bailey, who worked at ActionAIDS, the city's largest AIDS service organization, brought young people to tears and laughter as he talked about his own battle with the AIDS virus, and advocated the use of condoms to prevent infection.

"I am guilty of nothing more than having a virus," Mr. Bailey told a class of undergraduates at Drexel University in 1992. "My death seems like a high price to pay for lack of information. The person who can protect you from this disease is yourself. You have to be responsible for yourself."

At the time, there were no effective medicines against AIDS, and Mr. Bailey, a gay man who had been diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, figured he had little time to live. The advent of powerful AIDS drug "cocktails" in 1996 changed that, dramatically reducing AIDS deaths across the nation. But now, some of the survivors are developing resistance to the drugs, and the virus has come roaring back.

"For Gary, the new drugs worked for two years - and then they failed," said Gail Dinter-Gottlieb, dean of arts and sciences at Pace University in New York and a molecular biologist formerly at Drexel who regularly invited Mr. Bailey to speak to her classes here. Dinter-Gottlieb said Mr. Bailey's honesty and humor had captured the hearts of her students, who lingered long after the class - dubbed AIDS 101 - to buttonhole Mr. Bailey with their own questions and concerns.

Joan Curran, deputy executive director of ActionAIDS, said Mr. Bailey, who worked out at the gym and reported to his job the day before he died, was pivotal in the agency's AIDS education program, which reaches 25,000 people a year. "He had an absolute passion for HIV prevention," Curran said. "He prided himself that he could speak to any group, whether it be corporate America or ex-offenders."

Ronda Goldfein, senior staff attorney with the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, said Mr. Bailey, a former VISTA volunteer at the agency, worked hard to get his message out to teenage girls, telling them they had the power to say no to sex unless their partners used condoms. Bryan Cole Smith, Mr. Bailey's partner for the last three years, said Mr. Bailey raised much of the money that supported his work. "He didn't want to be beholden to anybody," Smith said.

For his AIDS education work, Mr. Bailey and his longtime former partner, Philadelphia writer David Bertugli - who died in 1997 - were cited by President George Bush as part of his "thousand points of light" campaign honoring volunteers. Both men played bit roles in the movie Philadelphia, about a lawyer with AIDS.

Mr. Bailey was born in Silver Spring, Md., and grew up in North Carolina. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greenville and went into fashion design. His clothing line, called Edna Queen of Mars, popularized pig designs.

Mr. Bailey is survived by his parents, Clarence M. and Josephine Snow Bailey of Greenville, and a brother, James Bailey of Atlanta.

A memorial service is planned in Philadelphia for May 7, but details have not yet been decided. The family asks that donations be made to ActionAIDS, 1216 Arch St., Philadelphia 19107, or Philly Paws, Box 30262, Philadelphia 19103.

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Date of Birth: 12/6/1951

Date of Death: 4/13/2000

Age at Death: 48

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His friends include: Bryan Cole Smith

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