In summer 1988, when she was 22 years old, Gertz was hospitalized because of a persistent fever and chronic diarrhea. She underwent many painful tests for almost three weeks, but she was never tested for AIDS because she wasn’t in a high-risk group for the disease. Finally, when she developed pneumonia, a bronchoscopy revealed that Gertz did indeed have AIDS.
The next year, in an interview with the New York Times, Gertz shared her story publicly for the first time. At this time, the common perception was that AIDS could only affect homosexual men, intravenous drug abusers, and recipients of blood transfusions. Gertz helped remove this stigma because she did not fit into any of these categories. As a sober and responsible heterosexual woman with affluence, social prominence, and artistic talent, Gertz became a symbol that AIDS could truly affect anybody.
After the New York Times story ran, Gertz received thousands of calls and letters from around the world. She became a crusader and started giving speeches at schools, universities, and public events to raise awareness for AIDS. She said that she wanted to speak to young people because “they might not listen to their parents or pay attention to the news, but they might understand it coming from me because I’m one of them.” Gertz and her parents also founded AIDS organizations to raise money for research.
Gertz was put on the cover of People magazine and was named Woman of the Year by Esquire magazine. Some of her many television appearances were on "Good Morning America," "20/20," "Sally Jessy Raphael" and "Joan Rivers." In March 1992, ABC broadcast a two-hour TV movie called "Something To Live For: The Alison Gertz Story" where Gertz was portrayed by Molly Ringwald. Within 24 hours of airing, this movie prompted a record 189,251 calls to the federal AIDS hotline.
On August 8, 1992, Gertz passed away at her family's summer home in Westhampton Beach. She was only 26 years old. Her cause of death was AIDS-related pneumonia.
It is so tragic that this young woman had her life cut short by this disease. Unfortunately she is not the only one; the fashion icon Tina Chow was also a victim of AIDs. An influential figure in the fashion world, Chow effortlessly fused her Western and Japanese background to bring a unique take to the European dominated fashion world and open up opportunities for more diverse models. She also pioneered in androgynous fashion, sporting low cut hair an often being spotted in a simple shirt and some jeans. She began her path as an activist for AIDS after numerous friends of hers had passed away from the illness. Unfortunately, she herself contracted HIV and was later diagnosed with AIDs in the following years, yet she continued her activism, working with the AIDs organization Angel Food, which provided food for AIDS patients. She unfortunately passed away in 1992 at the age of 41, but her impact on AIDS activism and in the fashion world will not be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2130316/remembering-tina-chow-style-icon-70s-and-80s
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/26/nyregion/bettina-l-chow-model-and-designer-dies-at-41.html