Henry M. Tavera (January 19, 1944,

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010 United States Cen ...

– February 27, 2000)Ramirez, Horacio N. Roque. "Claiming Queer Cultural Citizenship: Gay Latino (Im)Migrant Acts in San Francisco." Queer Migrations: Sexuality, U.S. Citizenship, and Border Crossings, edited by Eithne Luibheid and Lionel Cantu Jr., 1st ed., University of Minnesota Press, 2005.Guy, Roma. Minutes of the Health Commission Meeting. 7 March 2000, www.sfdph.org/dph/files/hc/HCMins/HCMin2000/HCMin03072000.htm. Accessed 26 March 2017. was an AIDS activist, artistic director, and archivist based in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

; his 1979 move to the region put him at the forefront of the

AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

via his involvement in various

HIV/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 ...

service organizations as well as AIDS theatre. He also did work around Chicano Gay Activism and teaching/advising. Tavera died on February 27, 2000, at 56 years old from kidney cancer.

Career

In a lifetime dedicated to advocacy and activism, Hank Tavera was heavily involved in work surrounding the

. Tavera worked at the San Francisco City Clinic where he held the position of HIV/AIDS intervention specialist. Between 1986 and 1990, Tavera joined the staff of the

San Francisco AIDS Foundation The San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing services for people with HIV/AIDS, with a mission to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States. They were founded in 1982, at the beginning of the AIDS ...

, where he was responsible for running the Client Services department. During his time there, Tavera established bilingual services that centered on women and

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

. In the following years, Tavera played crucial roles as an advocate by participating in the Latino Coalition on AIDS, chairing in the Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force, and becoming a voting delegate for LIFE, a Sacramento

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

and AIDS lobby. He later co-founded LLEGO (Latina/o Lesbian and Gay Organization) in California as well as National LLEGO, which were both organizations dedicated to the overall empowerment of all who were a part of the greater

community. Hank Tavera and LLEGO were present during the 1993 Washington March for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Tavera continued his activism in the theatrical world, in which he engaged with Mexican American theater and worked in creating the newsletter for ''TENAZ Talks Teatro'', a publication in ''La Revista Literaria de El Tecolote'', a San Francisco publication that showcased Latina/Chicana women in theater. In addition to this, Tavera was a well-known director of plays, directing nine consecutive years of the Performing Arts Shows of Latina/o Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Artists at the

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) is an arts nonprofit that was founded in 1977, and is located at 2868 Mission Street in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. They provide art studio space, art classes, an art gallery, ...

. Tavera also worked in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

when he served as a high school teacher at St. John Bosco Highschool as well as a college teacher at

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...

. His work in education continued when he worked as an advisor at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

Personal life

Hank Tavera was heavily influenced by the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

grape boycott and the Chicano theater movement, both of which were foundational in his political and artistic values. In regards to Hank Tavera's personal relationships, he was in a domestic partnership for 20 years with Quehal Weso, who he shared a home with. He also had a boyfriend whose name was James Sales and had been dating for a total of 9 years in 1996. His two children are son Mario Tavera and daughter Cecilia Tavera. Tavera also identified as a gay Catholic, and was therefore part of the San Francisco chapter for Dignity/San Francisco, an LGBT Catholic organization dedicated to the "wholeness and holiness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender catholics".

AIDS activism

San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF)

In 1985, Hank Tavera was hired as a staff member in the

's Client Services department. This was a result of a meeting that took place in May of the same year where SFAF's

board members A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervise the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiza ...

expressed their concerns about a lack of staff members who were committed to accomplishing the organization's goal of outreaching to communities of color.Brier, Jennifer. "Marketing Safe Sex: The Politics of Sexuality, Race, and Class in San Francisco, 1983-1991." Infectious Ideas: U.S. Political Responses to the AIDS Crisis. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009.

Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force (TWAATF)

Along with running Client Services at SFAF, Tavera was a member of the Latino Coalition on AIDS and chaired the Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force. TWAATF was founded in 1985 in an effort to address the distinct ways men of color accessed AIDS prevention and treatment resources. This included an understanding of "the historical reality of

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

institution Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

s," venues that

AIDS service organization AIDS service organizations are community-based organizations that provide support for people affected by HIV/AIDS. This article focuses on HIV/AIDS service organizations in the United States only. There is a huge variety of these organizations in o ...

s like SFAF mainly targeted. Their mission was to " ssistexisting AIDS organizations with providing educational material that is relevant,

culturally sensitive Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed for ...

, and can be understood by our communities".

San Francisco City Clinic

Tavera worked at the San Francisco City Clinic as an HIV/AIDS interventions specialist.

"Just Say No to Mandatory Testing of Prostitutes" San Francisco 1988 Campaign

Hank Tavera participated in the campaign against the passing of Assembly Bill 2319 in 1988, which ultimately aimed at the mandatory testing of prostitutes, prisoners or new born babies for HIV/AIDS.

AIDS theater

Teatro Gusto (San Francisco)

In the spring of 1983, Tavera directed ''The Leash'' and a two-act version of ''Reunion'' with San Francisco's Teatro Gusto. ''Reunion'' is Filipino-American

Edgar Poma Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

’s play about a young Chicano’s coming out story.Haggerty, George. Bonnie Zimmerman. "Chicano and Latino Gay Cultures." Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures. Vol. 1. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 2000.

National AIDS Theater Festivals

In 1989, Tavera became the artistic director of the National AIDS Theater Festivals.

Performing Arts Show of Latino/a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Artists

In 1991, he became the director of the Performing Arts Show of Latino/a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Artists. In 1992, Tavera produced Gustavo Martín Cravioto's ''Soy Tu Madre'' and premiered it at the Mission Cultural Center. ''Soy Tu Madre'' was a

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

that brought attention to the inaccessibility of HIV and

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 ...

resources to both homosexual and heterosexual

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

s. The play follows the story of a married heterosexual couple, who die after being infected with HIV, and the husband's mother, who wonders about an alternative ending had they been informed about HIV prevention and treatment.

AIDS Theater Festival of San Francisco

In 1993, Tavera became the director of the AIDS Theater Festival of San Francisco. This festival took place every year, alongside the National AIDS Update Conference, with the purpose of spotlighting talented Latinos/as.Sandoval-Sanchez, Alberto. "Act Two: Latino/a Self-Representation." José, Can You See?: Latinos on and off Broadway. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.

Awards and honors

* In 1989, Tavera received the "Excellent Leadership Award" from the Third World Counselors Association of California. * In 1994, Tavera received the "Bay Area Angel Honoree" award from the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Ameri ...

, a theatre company located in

. * In 1996, Tavera was given the "Outstanding Community Service Achievement Award" from AGUILAS, an organization in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, for his continued activism in the

community and activist/theatre work centering the

. * In 1997, Tavera was the first to be awarded the "Premio Cultura Award" from the National LLEGO (Latina/o Lesbian and Gay Organization) in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

at their Quinto Encuentro event. * In 1999, Tavera received the "Pax Bonum Award" from Dignity/San Francisco, an LGBT Catholics organization.

Featured work and publications

* Tavera's poem "What Is AIDS Theater?" was used in Sandoval-Sanchez's book ''José, Can You See?: Latinos on and off Broadway'' as an exemplary definition of AIDS Theater. Sandoval-Sanchez states that AIDS Theater is "an act of mourning…

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

… survival and creativity for those living with and affected by AIDS." * Tavera co-authored the Multicultural Plan for Dignity/San Francisco. * Tavera's archive, the "Hank M. Tavera Papers," is one of the very few archives on "lesbian and gay"

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

that have been fully cataloged .8. Hobson, Emily K. "Connecting the Struggle: Building a Gay and Lesbian Left." Imagining Alliance: Queer Anti-Imperialism and Race in California, 1966-1990. Ann Arbor: ProQuest LLC, 2009, 155.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavera, Hank HIV/AIDS activists 1944 births 2000 deaths People from East Los Angeles, California American LGBT rights activists Deaths from kidney cancer Activists from California Deaths from cancer in California Hispanic and Latino American artists