You can ask Cleve Jones about anything—his decades of queer civil rights and labor activism, his time with Harvey Milk, the invention and stewardship of the AIDS Quilt, cofounding the SF AIDS Foundation, even his own recent fight against his own eviction. Just don’t ask him to stay home. Especially on the occasion of his 70th birthday, and especially where there are funds to raise for essential organizations.
“I’m just grateful to be alive,” the local legend laugh-sighed over the phone about his approaching septuagenarianism, then quickly turned rueful. “When so many others aren’t. It’s kind of bittersweet. So many of the people I hoped to grow old with didn’t make it past 40.”
Those spirits will surely be present in many hearts and minds at this Friday’s huge Cleve Jones 70th Birthday Celebration (Fri/11, 8pm, Hibernia Building, SF), along with the likes of drag monarchs Juanita More and Sister Roma, trans star Our Lady J, gay country singer Chris Housmann, Broadway hunk Anthony Wayne, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and DJ Phil B, who will be playing music from then past seven decades. Cocktails and music and sequined gowns—on the queens at least—will flow, all in the gorgeously rehabilitated Hibernia Building.
It’ll definitely be a party but, this being Cleve, the main purpose is to raise much-needed funds—and sound the alarm about hard-won HIV/AIDS accomplishments being thrown into peril.
“It’s a real downer where we’re at with HIV/AIDs right now. The news is not good! We got very close to getting to zero HIV infections in San Francisco and other cities. But the racial disparity that was before the pandemic continues. Rates started rising again, and the structural protections against it are crumbling. We’re moving away from our goal of getting to zero.
“The AIDS Lifecycle, which acted as an essential fundraiser for decades, is ending next year. That may be the right decision, sadly, since participation has been decreasing by about 1000 riders each year, and costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic. Major funders like Levi Strauss have pulled out of HIV/AIDS grant-making—and they’re not the only ones. And then there’s PEPFAR, which has been crucial to fund anti-AIDS efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s usually renewed for five years, but this year Congress only reauthorized it for one. Programs that depend on it are thrown into chaos when this type of thing happens.”
Turning a sage 70, Jones also has concerns of the latest generation of young queers. “They have these incredible tools to live their lives basically free from the fear we had to deal with regarding AIDS. That’s a remarkable thing. But are they connected to the history and the struggle that got us here? What happens if that all goes away? A Trump administration could wreak havoc on healthcare and our rights. Then what? I don’t think they know how bad things can get. I regret calling Reagan and Bush fascists now, because this is a real fascist threat.”
Jones says the only way to ensure a vibrant future is by maintaining a living past. “One of the benefactors of the party is the AIDS Memorial Quilt—the other is the SF AIDS Foundation. We need people to show up to preserve these two things. The quilt is not just a work of nostalgia, it’s a powerful record and reminder of the horrible, stupid, unscientific mistakes we made during that pandemic. The AIDS Foundation is working every day to make sure we don’t make these same mistakes again.”
That’s all profound and terrific, but what I really want to know is how on earth I or anyone else can access his stamina when I’m his age, and throw a huge affair like this? “My secret is Audrey Joseph,” Jones says, referring to the promotional powerhouse behind legendary party palaces like 177 Townsend and Mezzanine, and former president of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission.
“I had this spark of an idea and I knew she was the right person who could make it a reality. Luckily, she said yes! We did a walk-through of the Hibernia building and I said, “You know, I’m not sure, but I think I opened a savings account here in 1973.”
As for the entertainment, beside tapping good friends like the “miraculous” Sister Roma and Juanita More (“They’ve thrown on wigs and run down to sleazy gay bars at the last minute for me, and this is much nicer”), the choices came from being, in his words, “so incredibly online.”
“I was scrolling, as one does, and into my newsfeed popped a new song by our Lady J. I knew her from ‘Pose’ and we even both attended an event at the National AIDS Memorial a while back. But with ‘Future of Us,’ I just kept hitting repeat, playing it 5 or 6 times in a row. It’s truly remarkable, recorded with New York Gay Mens chorus. A haunting, beautiful, unique piece of music that’s so of the moment.
“So I found her in Instagram and said, ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but I think you should come out and perform with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus for this party I’m throwing’… and she said yes. The same thing happened with Chris Housmann. I saw his video for ‘Drag Queen,’ and it was so moving, considering all the drag queens in my life, that I just immediately reached out and got him, too.
“And this was at 3am. Give me a cup of coffee and I can do anything,” Jones laughed.
As for looking back on 70 years, Jones pulls one particular spirit from his past out of the air to commemorate with his party. “My very first night in San Francisco, as a long-haired homeless kid, I was panhandling for breakfast outside the Haven restaurant at Polk and California. After I got enough, I went in and ordered my omelette, and seated across the table from me was a person who looked like no other human being I had ever seen in my life.
“They said, ‘Sit down, child, I don’t bit unless you want me to.’ That was Sylvester. He is a guiding soul for this celebration, because he showed up whenever we needed him. The night after the White Night Riots, 45 years ago, Sylvester came and gave a concert right on the streets. He became emblematic of queer commmunty in that moment in history.
“I wanted him to be at the party in some way, too. So back I went on Instagram and found Anthony Wayne of that great Sylvester musical, Mighty Real. He didn’t know me personally, either—but he also said yes. So I feel wherever Sylvester is now, he’s going to be at the party, too.”
CLEVE JONES 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Fri/11, 8pm, Hibernia Building, SF. Tickets and more info here.
