PAINFUL ASSIGNMENT

The San Francisco Chronicle last Sunday ran 10 wrenching pages on “AIDS and the Arts,” a special report on men prominent in the San Francisco arts community who have died or are suffering from AIDS.

The article estimates that 60 men of note--mostly in their 30s and 40s--have died. About 50 of them were profiled, with photos of 21 published, plus discussion of other men who are ill.

It was, said entertainment reporter/critic Edward Guthmann, the “most painful” assignment of his career.

There were more photos and capsule stories of those who continue to create while struggling with the disease.

It brought home in human terms how deeply acquired immune deficiency syndrome has struck the city’s artistic community: The San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band lost three key members in as many weeks; the city’s Gay Men’s Chorus has lost at least two dozen of its 114 members; four former members of the long-running cabaret musical-comedy, “Beach Blanket Babylon,” are gone; Theater Rhinoceros, a noted gay theater, has been decimated; Moby Dick Records lost 7 of the company’s 10 core employees and has folded.

Accompanying articles looked at efforts to unite the arts community in dealing with the disease, and at prominent artists, locally and nationally, determined to remain closeted about their affliction, even after death.

Reaction, said Guthmann, has been “overwhelmingly positive and deeply satisfying. I’ve gotten more positive comments than for anything else I’ve ever written--here at the paper and personally.”

There has been “inevitable” criticism: A letter writer asked, “Why can’t we (instead) tell the homosexual to abstain from his unnatural act so we can rid the world of this terrible disease?” And some organizations--such as the San Francisco Opera--gave Guthmann a “no comment” when he inquired about the AIDS impact.