The Fine Print Blog

At the beginning of this month, we lost John Falkenberg, a uniquely brilliant, generous and funny human being.  Several of his friends wrote remembrances, and they all sound a strikingly similar theme. We reprint them here to honor, in a very small way, a very big life.

By Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director, CHLP 

As visionary and organizer Bayard Rustin observed, the proof that one truly believes is in action. John Falkenberg was a true believer. 

By Susan Rodriguez, Founding Executive Director, SMART, Inc. 

He was truly a giant among us, a genius and a brilliant human being who was as humble as he was smart.

By Joseph Sonnabend, MD

Those of us who knew him have lost the very best of friends. 

By Oscar Mairena, Manager, Policy & Legislative Affairs and Viral Hepatitis, NASTAD

This month, Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced bipartisan legislation, HR1843, the Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage or Allow Legal (REPEAL) HIV Discrimination Act.

By Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director, CHLP

Now that antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea has made its way to North America, and treatment advocacy organizations are positing the question of whether microbicides can replace condoms for preventing HIV transmission, we thought it time to offer a brief primer on gonorrhea, courtesy of the CDC. 

By Catherine Hanssens, Executive Director, CHLP

Not long before he died, Spencer Cox reflected on what he learned from his decades as an AIDS treatment activist. "You make your life as meaningful as you can make it. You live it and don't be afraid of who's going to like you…You worry about things like being kind...if it's not about that, what the hell is it about?"

By Catherine Hanssens
Executive Director, CHLP

HIVMA has joined the growing group of medical and public health organizations that have taken a public stand against the health and human rights disaster of HIV criminalization.  Will federal public health officials catch up?