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his MySpace page simply as “One Tough
Pirate.”
He got the name and idea from his
friend Clark, now a retired Los Angeles
policeman. At the time Bowers was living
in Los Angeles, and he took medicinal
marijuana to ease the nausea and vomiting
caused by his HIV medications. He was
worried that he would get pulled over and
subsequently arrested because he rode a
Harley with straight pipes, and portrayed
a tough guy image—shaved head, tattoos
and all (in truth, Bowers claims, he’s been
in only two fi ghts in his entire life).
When a friend introduced him to
Clark, Bowers spilled his whole story, but
his fi rst impression was, here was a guy who
was his polar opposite—cop, straight-laced,
clean cut. Clark told Bowers that when he
fi rst saw him on his Harley, he thought he
looked like a “friggin’ pirate who ate small
children.” But Clark taught Bowers a valuable
lesson about people’s perceptions. Th e
reality, said Clark, is to just be as honest and
nice as you are, and the cops aren’t going
to mess with you. If a cop brings in a cardcarrying
medicinal marijuana club member
with AIDS, they’ll get in more trouble than
you ever would, said Clark.
“Th at’s where the quote of ‘compassion
is our cure’ came from,” explains Bowers. “I
22
really thought that the campaign was a compassionate
way to make people understand
perception versus reality. It provided a very
safe way to put it into our community.
“So many of the messages are ‘just
say no,’ or ‘put on a condom,’ or ‘sex kills.’
Instead, I prefer to let the kids send that
message.” And out of that came the “What
if it were you?” campaign.
“I had never done a social marketing
campaign before,” laughs Bowers. “I didn’t
even know what that was. But I just felt that
by asking, ‘What if?’—that no one could
really argue with that. I’m not asking you
Bob Bowers at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
to agree or disagree with AIDS, or who it’s
aff ecting, or why it’s aff ecting certain demographics,
but—what if? What if you were in
my shoes? How would you want people to
react? I think it’s extremely profound and
powerful.”
Today he regularly goes on speaking
engagements and delivers that same message,
that “you can’t judge a book by its
cover,” to anyone who will listen—businesses,
schools, and even law enforcement
groups. Bowers, who’s straight, believes it’s
essential that kids, especially, understand
that HIV does not discriminate, and can
happen to anyone. And just as importantly,
people shouldn’t be afraid to discuss it, and
be able to do so in a manner that doesn’t
incorporate fear or judgment. He does this
by talking with them frankly about his own
experience living with HIV, and fi nds he
has an ability to connect with the kids on
their own level.
Bowers is quick to point out that he’s
not artistic, in the sense of being able to
create his own original artwork, and so he
really had no clue where the contest would
lead. “I just totally trusted and put my faith
in these kids, and we’ve been blown away
by some of the very powerful and heartfelt
messages that they’ve created.”
In addition to the poster contest, students
fi ll out a brief pre- and post-questionnaire
which poses the question, “If you
found out a classmate had HIV, how would
you react?” as well as other questions about
transmission and prevention.
Bowers is adamant about the need to
address the social issues and the stigma
surrounding HIV, in addition to emphasizing
prevention and education. He says that
racism and homophobia continue to play a
large part in the rising infection rates in the
community.
“Th e demographics of this epidemic
show that half of those infected are African
American, and half are men who have sex
with men (MSM). I can’t help but think that
if it were aff ecting white, upper-class folks
that we’d be faced with a diff erent outlook
right now. We may not have the scientifi c
cure, but money would be pouring in, left
and right.”
Th is fall will mark the third year of the
contest. Unfortunately the program did not
receive renewed funding from the Wisconsin
AIDS Fund, which had funded them the
previous year. Upon learning this, Joe Pabst,
a member of the well-known Pabst family
who has done a great amount of philanthropic
work in the city and state, was able
to secure funding through the Johnson and
Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund of the Greater
Milwaukee Foundation.
Th is helped off set some of the initial
costs and started the ball rolling again for
the next round of the contest, but in the
absence of any other funding Bowers has
had to seek additional donations from individuals
and organizations in order to cover
the remaining costs. While Bowers says he
doesn’t mind, it makes it diffi cult to reach a
broader audience, and requires much more
time to promote on his own.
Bowers’ organization doesn’t accept
any federal or state funding because of the
strings attached—the limitations on what
PA • September / October 2008 • tpan.com • positivelyaware.com
Positively Aware
Photo © Russell McGonagle