Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli Star in And the Band Played On II

San Francisco Chronicle medical reporter Sabin Russell will not say exactly what was said to him by two self-described AIDS activists?currently being held in San Francisco's County Jail on a combined bail of one million dollars?when they allegedly made phone calls to his home in the middle of the night in recent weeks. But he confirms that there were threats of physical violence. "It was menacing and specific and mentioned my home address and the names of family members," he says.

What was Russell's crime in the eyes of his tormentors? Reporting on alarming studies showing an increase in unsafe sex among gay men, and a dramatic increase in syphilis infection rates as well (often an indicator of an upswing in unsafe sex). In a demented twist on things, 14 years after ACT UP formed in response to the lack of responsible media coverage of the surging AIDS epidemic, some activists are now actually telling reporters to stop covering AIDS.

Awash in denial and often overcome with anger and frustration regarding their own battles with HIV, this small but vocal minority of gay activists and writers?some but certainly not all of whom claim that HIV doesn't even cause AIDS?has embarked on a campaign that obviously includes intimidation tactics. To these people, the latest epidemiological studies are false or overblown, the product of people in "AIDS Inc." trying to keep their jobs, or of homophobes trying to hamper gay men's sex lives by using scare tactics.

Welcome to And the Band Played On II.

Two weeks ago the perpetrators of the San Francisco harassment campaign, long-time rabble-rousers Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli, were charged with stalking, criminal harassment and conspiracy, among 27 counts against them. And, in an action that created headlines up and down the West Coast, a judge set bail at the exorbitant one million dollars. A hearing was scheduled for this week to appeal the bail decision. In addition to harassment and threats against Russell and other Chronicle reporters, the two men are accused of threatening several health officials and AIDS researchers.

For weeks, Petrelis and Pasquarelli had circulated e-mails with the home telephone numbers of AIDS officials, Chronicle reporters and New York Times staffers. Not only were the activists apparently trying to silence reporters through intimidation, they were trying to keep researchers from reporting information to journalists, too. One voicemail message left for Steve Morin, of the UCSF AIDS Research institute, stated: "You sawed-off fuck, Steve Morin, you better shut your face and not go to the media anymore if you want to keep talking." A bomb threat was also called in to the Chronicle.

A spokesman for the two jailed men, Todd Swindell, admits that the activists stated the names of Chronicle reporter Russell's children when they left him messages, but only "because the names were on Russell's outgoing message on his answering machine," which Swindell says listed the names of everyone in the family. "From my perspective," Swindell said, "the intent of calling these people at home was to kind of shake things up a bit, to let them know that this affects us personally, and thus it is going to affect you personally. That message was meant to say, 'I want everyone who lives with Sabin Russell to know that there's a controversy here, that they are a part of it.'"

Pasquarelli, 34, belongs to ACT UP San Francisco, which broke ranks with other chapters of ACT UP eleven years ago by declaring that HIV doesn't cause AIDS. Members of the group harass officials for perpetrating "the AIDS fraud." The chapter has since been written off entirely by other AIDS advocates. Petrelis, 42, is a longtime gadfly who has devoted his life to street activism, earning money at side jobs and by taking donations. Though he was often erratic and at times misguided, in the past Petrelis did some positive work that garnered the support of many, particularly when he lived in New York and Washington. In recent years, however, he seems to have snapped altogether, both in terms of the issues he addresses and the tactics he uses. He doesn't subscribe to Pasquarelli's beliefs on HIV, but nonetheless agrees with him that "AIDS is over!"?which was emblazoned on the t-shirt he wore to court on the day he was charged and taken away.

All of this might seem like a sorry tale that doesn't warrant much attention except that, as author Gabriel Rotello noted in the Los Angeles Times last week, the campaign of intimidation has worked. Important researchers have left the field over the past few years, fearful for themselves and their families. Some of the gay press have focused more on the activists' distractions than on the dire realities of the epidemic. Though they are on the far gay left, one thing that has helped to fuel these activists and give a few breaths of legitimacy to their cause has been support from some on the gay right, namely from the conservative, HIV-positive gay commentator Andrew Sullivan. (AIDS denial makes strange bedfellows indeed.)

Predictably, but no less outrageously, Sullivan has suddenly distanced himself from Petrelis, lashing out on his website at this "extreme gay left activism" soon after the arrests received widespread coverage. Sullivan also used the opportunity to demonize the gay liberal/left in general, attacking it for supposedly promoting such tactics. This was remarkable on a couple of counts. First off, these ugly tactics are found in pockets across the political spectrum?and are denounced by most people across the political spectrum?and Sullivan knows that. I've not only received death threats from far-right religious extremists, but earlier this year I was threatened by several gay conservative individuals after I wrote a story about Sullivan's own AIDS denial and unsafe sex practices (after he'd advertised for "bareback" sex on the Internet). One individual who threatened me with physical violence is in fact a close friend and associate of Sullivan's.

Second, Sullivan has encouraged and supported Petrelis in his reckless disinformation campaign. Petrelis has been intimidating San Francisco health officials in public and on the telephone for more than two years. And yet Sullivan not only hasn't criticized Petrelis' tactics previously?he has praised Petrelis and elevated him. This past June in The New Republic Sullivan wrote yet another of his AIDS denial pieces, attacking the newest studies showing HIV infection rates among gay men are on the rise. For backup he referenced Petrelis as one of several "respected journalists" who are questioning the numbers on HIV transmission.

Respected journalist? Petrelis? Reading that created hoots and howls among those of us in the know?but unfortunately the vast majority of people who read The New Republic (obviously including its editors) wouldn't have a clue as to how ridiculous that was; but Sullivan had to know that. Petrelis sent the piece from here to kingdom come on e-mail lists, as he has done with other positive write-ups Sullivan has given him, helping to legitimize his cause and his tactics. The Chronicle's Sabin Russell and others who have been harassed can certainly lay some of the blame for their troubles on people like Sullivan, who have helped to empower the street thugs.

One hopes these arrests will embolden people to stand up to the intimidation. This is a critical time in the epidemic, one in which both AIDS researchers and journalists will be vital in helping to turn the tide as new generations of gay men tragically become infected with HIV. The last thing we need is for them to be fearful of doing their jobs.

Michelangelo Signorile can be reached at [www.signorile.com](http://www.signorile.com).