Alison L. Gertz (February 27, 1966 – August 8, 1992) was an American

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

activist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gertz died of AIDS-related

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Early life

Gertz was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and was raised in an apartment on

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

. She was the only child of Jerrold Gertz, a real estate executive, and his wife Carol, the co-founder (with Adriana Mnuchin, wife of

Robert Mnuchin Robert E. Mnuchin (born 1933) is an American art dealer and former banker. He is the founder of the Mnuchin Gallery at 45 East 78th Street, New York. He is the father of Steven Mnuchin, who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury in the ...

) of a woman's clothing store chain, ''Tennis Lady''. She attended the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

, and later studied art at

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

Diagnosis

In summer 1988, Gertz developed a persistent fever and chronic diarrhea. She was hospitalized and underwent testing to determine the cause of her illness. Gertz was never tested for AIDS because doctors did not consider her to be in a "high-risk group" for the disease. Two weeks later, she developed

. A

bronchoscopy Bronchoscopy is an endoscopic technique of visualizing the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. An instrument (bronchoscope) is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth, or occasionally through a trac ...

revealed that Gertz had AIDS. Gertz later found out that she had contracted

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

from a 27-year-old man named Cort Brown. He was a bisexual bartender whom Gertz met at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

when she was 16. They had their first and only sexual encounter in 1982. He died of AIDS in 1988.

Activism

In 1989, Gertz chose to publicly share her story and did an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She hoped to educate others about AIDS and dispel the myths and misconceptions surrounding the disease. She stated:

All the AIDS articles are about homosexuals or poor people on drugs, and unfortunately a lot of people just flip by them. They think it doesn't apply to them. They can't turn the page on me. I could be one of them, or their daughter. They have to deal with this. I want to talk to these kids who think they're immortal. I want to tell them: I'm heterosexual, and it took only one time for me.

She became an AIDS activist, appearing on numerous television shows and also speaking with teenagers on the subject of

safe sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer se ...

. Gertz and her parents also founded The AIDS groups Concerned Parents for AIDS Research and Love Heals. In 1989, Gertz's foundation, Love Heals, along with Martin Himmel Health Foundation, hired Tony Schwartz to create public service announcements on AIDS awareness. The scripts and correspondence are housed at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

in the Tony Schwartz Collection. During Gertz's time as an activist, she was voted

Woman of the Year ''Woman of the Year'' is a 1942 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The film was written by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin (with uncredited work on the rewritten e ...

by ''Esquire'' magazine and received the Secretary's Award for Excellence in Public Service from the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

. In March 1992,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

aired a

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on her life, starring

Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an or ...

. In the 24 hours after the movie aired, the federal AIDS hotline received a record 189,251 calls.

Death

On August 8, 1992, Gertz died of AIDS-related

at her family's summer home in

Westhampton Beach, New York Westhampton Beach is an incorporated village in the Town of Southampton, in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,721. History The village of Westhampto ...

, at the age of 26. A memorial service for Gertz was held at the

New York Society for Ethical Culture The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement, Ethical Humanism or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religion, religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler (professor), Felix Adler ...

on September 24, 1992, in Manhattan.

In popular culture

Gertz was referred to in the song "Life Support" from the rock opera ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''. At the beginning of the song, various members of the group say their names. Jonathan Larson used the names of his HIV-positive friends as the characters in this song. At the beginning of the song, the character who refers to herself as "Ali" was named after Gertz. An episode of ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

'' entitled "Isn’t It Romantic?" was inspired by Gertz's story.

References

External links

Love Heals - The Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS education
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gertz, Alison 1966 births 1992 deaths HIV/AIDS activists AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American health activists Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) Horace Mann School alumni Parsons School of Design alumni People from the Upper East Side Activists from New York (state)