When the AIDS epidemic was in full swing, the Ambassador Hotel in San Francisco became a sanctuary for those affected by the crisis, transforming from a residential hotel into a vibrant community center. Stathis G. Yeros explores how activists and residents created a unique model of care and kinship, defying societal stigma and offering support to individuals from diverse backgrounds. The Ambassador’s legacy also had an impact on today’s conversations around healthcare and community.
By acknowledging that people with AIDS had sexual identities, the Ambassador embraced residents’ basic humanity and flouted the timidity of more mainstream LBGT advocacy, which was at that point minimizing allusions to sex in hopes of making people with HIV seem deserving of care.
Nearly everyone who worked at the Ambassador was simultaneously dealing with the disease in their personal lives. Some, like Wilson and Calvanese, contended with the anxieties of living with HIV, and most employees and volunteers had close friends or family members who had died. Within the building, AIDS was a familiar plight — a point of connection, a common bond, a shared grief.