Elizabeth Taylor’s Secret Visit To The World’s First AIDS Ward

Image: Tom Levy and John O'Hara/S.F. Chronicle Archive

On January 15, 1986, Elizabeth Taylor walked into San Francisco General Hospital's Ward 5B, the first dedicated inpatient AIDS ward in the world, and did something no globally famous celebrity had ever done: she sat with patients. This was at a time when most of the world, including much of official Washington, was still looking away from the AIDS crisis, whether in ignorance or in fear. A new San Francisco Chronicle piece tells the story of Elizabeth’s visit that day in detail, for the very first time.

By then, Elizabeth had already begun the work that would become a defining element of her life and legacy. In 1985 she chaired the first major AIDS fundraiser, AIDS Project Los Angeles' landmark Commitment to Life event, played a key role in the formation of amfAR, and became its Founding National Chairman. She would go on to testify before Congress three times, convince sitting President Ronald Reagan to finally address the AIDS pandemic publicly in 1987, chair the inaugural amfAR Gala Cannes, and establish The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. She did all of it loudly, publicly, and without apology.

In an era when fear and stigma had made AIDS patients radioactive to the public imagination, Elizabeth Taylor showing up in person, without fanfare, to be present with the sick and dying was an act of deliberate moral courage. She understood, as perhaps only someone of her particular magnitude of fame could, what her physical presence communicated. It said: these men are worth being seen. They are worth the company of the most famous woman in the world. And most importantly: they are worth being held with the compassion, understanding and love that every human being deserves.

Read the full story now at the San Francisco Chronicle.