STORIES

My name is Bill Kavanagh.  I am currently a licensed marriage and family therapist in Palm Springs, however the majority of my career was in Los Angeles in the entertainment world.

In 1989 and 1990, I took a break from my production company to travel around the country to 30 cities as an associate producer for a musical called Heartstrings.  It was a beautiful creation from David Sheppard to raise money and awareness for AIDS.  Our honorary national chairs were former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and in each city, we had our touring cast, local performers, the gay men’s chorus from that city, and big-name celebrities who stepped up to host the show.  It was the first of many musical performances for AIDS, thanks to the organization DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.

In March of 1990, we were in New York City and our host was Christopher Reeve, the original Superman.  A young man came backstage and said he had a dream the night before that everyone started wearing little red ribbons in support of our community.  He gave us all ribbons and asked us to wear them on our lapels.  We were producing Heartstrings, he said, and each ribbon would be a little string over our hearts.

My first thought was, “Oh god love ya, Honey,” but Christopher said he would wear it, so the rest of us did too.

A year later, in 1991, a group of artists came together to create the Visual AIDS Artists’ Caucus, and their work became “The Ribbon Project,” better known today simply as the Red Ribbon.   They believed that it was important for all of the members to remain anonymous, so none of their names are public.  That way, they honor the Project and not themselves.  However, I am fairly certain that the young man who came backstage for our Heartstrings show was one of those founders.

The color red was chosen, he said, for its “connection of blood to the idea of passion — not only anger, but love.”

Red ribbons were created by the thousands at gatherings of Artists’ Caucus members called “Ribbon Bees.”  They were friends and supporters working together to cut, fold, and pin ribbons for national distribution. When requests became too large to handle, other groups were engaged to participate, including the formation of the Armory Ribbon Bee Project, in which homeless women at the Park Avenue Shelter were paid to make tens of thousands of ribbons.

Visual AIDS partnered with Broadway Cares and Equity Fights AIDS in June of that year for guests and presenters at the Tony Awards to wear the ribbons.

Since that day, the ribbon has been worn at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and most all other awards shows, as well as talk shows, sporting events, and political conventions.  It’s become the universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV.  It is truly a design icon and has led the way for so many other color ribbons and awareness projects.

I still have framed that original little red ribbon I was given in New York in 1990.  And I want to say to that young man today, “God love ya, Honey.”