Towleroad Guide to the Tube: #96

BOB HATTOY: Hattoy's speech at the 1992 Democratic Convention in NYC. Hattoy, who died earlier this week, was the first gay man (and person with HIV) to address a national audience in prime time. (source: hrc)

GARUDA FLIGHT 200: Footage shot by an Australian cameraman who happened to be aboard the Indonesia airliner which crashed Wednesday in Yogyakarta. A tragic loss of at least 21 souls but an amazing survival story of the remainder of the 140 on board. Warning: some footage may be graphic.

FAMILY GUY: 1993 Giuliani campaign ad. (source: gawker)

MELINDA DOOLITTLE: Simon's "little tiger" and last night's standout on American Idol.

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Bob Hattoy's Speech to the 1992 Democratic National Convention

This morning I posted about the death of Bob Hattoy. Hattoy was the first openly gay person (and the first with HIV) to address a political convention when Bill Clinton asked him to speak at the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York. His speech was broadcast nationally in prime time.

Thanks to The Democratic Party blog, here's the text of that speech, which continues after the jump:

BOB HATTOY: Thank you. I love you. Thank you, California. Thank you, Gay and Lesbian community. Thank you, Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. Thank you, Aretha Franklin, God.

I am here tonight because of one man's courage and conviction, one man's dedication and daring and yes, one man's true kindness. He's my boss, Bill Clinton. (Applause)

You see, I have AIDS. I could be an African American woman, a Latino man, a 10-year old boy or girl. AIDS has many faces. And AIDS knows no class or gender, race or religion, or sexual orientation. AIDS does not discriminate, but George Bush's White House does. (Applause)

AIDS is a disease of the Reagan-Bush years. The first case was detected in 1981, but it took 40,000 deaths and seven years for Ronald Reagan to say the word "AIDS." It's five years later, 70,000 more dead and George Bush doesn't talk about AIDS, much less do anything about it.

Eight years from now there will be 2 million cases in America. If George Bush wins, we're all at risk in America. It's that simple. It's that serious. It's that terrible. (Applause)

(Chants of "No second term!")

Gay Activist Bob Hattoy, who Spoke at '92 Democratic Convention, has Died

Bob Hattoy, who in 1992 became the first openly gay man to address a political convention in prime time when Bill Clinton asked him to deliver a speech at the Democratic National Convention in New York City, died over the weekend in Sacramento.

Sean Strub, the editor of Poz magazine, reports that Hattoy had been hospitalized with pneumocystis pneumonia but had recently returned home. The cause of death has not been determined but Strub says cardiac arrest is suspected.

Hattoy was a tireless activist for gay and HIV-related causes as well as the ACLU and Sierra Club. Here's a great piece that was written for the L.A. Times less than two weeks before his speech at the Democratic Convention, and about one month after he learned he had AIDS.

Hattoy told Times reporter Josh Getlin: "I've been trying to put it into perspective, and I've realized that AIDS is what I have, not who I am. I can't speak for every AIDS activist group, but in a way I have to. I want to tell people that we have to beat this thing, and get beyond the politics of denial and death...If you want to know, I had a moment of true homosexual panic when this speech came up. When they told me I had to go through this chemotherapy treatment or die, I had no problem. But when they said my hair would fall out if I had the treatment, I was torn...My life used to be filled with press statements and politicians, and now it's filled with chemotherapy and bone marrow extractions and CAT scans. It's all the same to me. I've always been good at fights."

Our thoughts go out to Hattoy's family and friends.

Bob Hattoy, Gay & AIDS Hero, Advisor to Pres. Clinton, Has Died [petrelis files]
The Speech of His Life: Fate Pushes a Political Insider Into Democratic Convention Spotlight to Talk About AIDS [la times]