Last weekend’s AIDS Walk San Francisco saw a resurgence in fundraising that left organizers pleased, especially in light of donor fatigue when it comes to HIV/AIDS causes.

The July 19 event at Golden Gate Park saw about 20,000 participants raise $2.27 million for Project Inform, the lead nonprofit, and 42 other Bay Area agencies. The total is slightly larger than last year’s $2.24 million. (Last year, Project Inform said that $2.3 million was raised, but Executive Director Dana Van Gorder said a mistake was made in the 2014 projection.)

Under sunny skies last Sunday, walkers and others were upbeat during the opening ceremonies.

“We’ve taken major steps as a community, and in this country. We’ve achieved marriage equality, the Confederate flag has come down in South Carolina, the trans community will be able to serve in our military, and the Supreme Court has ruled that health care is a fundamental right,” declared an energetic Van Gorder from the podium in Golden Gate Park’s Sharon Meadow, referring to recent U.S. Supreme Court victories on marriage and health care, and recent news that top Defense Department brass are working on a plan to allow transgender people to serve openly in the military.

“The idea of that should give us the courage to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Van Gorder added.

The tone of the day was similar to that of an upbeat church revival, blended with the swagger of a neighborhood block party, a celebration of justice, community, and progress, all while serving as an urgent reminder of the need for diligence in a fight that a community is determined to conquer.

The event began with a crowd that filled most of the seats and lawn area of the meadow by 10 a.m., and there was never a dull moment as Culture Shock, a popular Oakland-based dance troupe, opened the ceremony, followed by a rousing gospel number from another Oakland-based group, The Messengers of Hope. The gospel choir was created and led by Ernest Larkins, 44, who’s lived with HIV for over 25 years. Larkins created the group, not only to sing songs of hope, but to challenge the views and stigma of HIV in the black church.

“There is a lot of work to be done, and music is how we push the message of hope in the community,” he said.

There were wide variations of messages delivered about the need for action and continued commitment in how the community battles the disease. Speakers and guests included AIDS Walk founder and senior organizer Craig R. Miller, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), Joe Wilkins, elected officials, AIDS activists, and corporate sponsors.

Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch served as emcee for the ceremony, helping to keep an already energetic crowd in good humor, praising the work of Project Inform and the steps being taken to further encourage safe-sex practices.

“It’s great that we have options like PrEP now, we take those around my house like Flintstones vitamins,” Vilanch quipped, referring to pre-exposure prophylaxis that studies show can prevent HIV if taken as prescribed.

While embracing the lighthearted references toward the new drug, Jen Dowd, a retail services manager at UCSF who has been participating in the AIDS walk for 14 of the 15 years that she’s been there, feels that public enlightenment around sexual health options is mandatory, and needs to continue in order to make a difference. Her motivation to attend AIDS walks, fundraise, and advocate for treatment options was fueled by an AIDS-related death of a close friend who was an event coordinator in 2006.

“If I can eliminate the amount of suffering of someone living with AIDS, I do what I need to do,” Dowd said.

UCSF boasted the top spot for AIDS Walk fundraising, raising over $107,000.

The attendees, varying in age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and walk experience remained in good spirits throughout the six-mile trek. Afterwards they were treated to music from local bands and even an underwear show by Stag Condoms models, which work to make condom use look and feel sexy.

As the walk portion of the afternoon came to an end, participants were greeted at the finish line with more celebrating as AIDS Walk organizers announced the grand total raised. In a post-walk email, Van Gorder said that the fee paid to MZA, which produces the event, was $162,500, a decrease from a couple years ago.

The post Bruce Vilanch Hosted Very Successful Project Inform AIDS Walk Raising 2.7 Million Dollars July 19th first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Standing On Ceremony, a collection of short plays bowing next week at the Broward Center, is about the traditional values of love and marriage. Specifically, gay marriage.

“Any kind of marriage is a celebration of the very best that human beings have to offer,” said Paul Rudnick, one of the playwrights contributing some of the nine playlets being presented in staged readings June 21-24.

Produced by Miamiâ€s City Theatre, the slate of works, droll and poignant, aims to win over or solidify public sentiment for marriage equality. Often the way to win hearts and minds is not to lecture, Rudnick said, but make people laugh or cry – and few efforts are as effective as the communal experience of theater.

“One of the things that theater does best is create a town hall feeling – that there really is something shared going on,” said Rudnick whose comedies have been produced across South Florida including Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and The New Century.

“Even when thereâ€s a real temptation to scream at people — and there is because of the frustration level — I find an evening like this, real entertainment, is more effective,” Rudnick said. “These plays are deeply joyous and if you can get people laughing and crying, then all of a sudden, barriers collapse.”

City Theatre Producing Artistic Director John Manzelli will direct actors from its Summer Shorts programs, Steve Trovillion, Elizabeth Dimon and Elena Maria Garcia.

The trio will join headliners Bruce Vilanch , the six-time Emmy winner and head writer for the Oscars, and Bryan Batt, memorable as Salvatore Romano on TVâ€s Mad Men and whose theatrical credits include Rudnickâ€s Jeffrey. The performances will be followed by a wedding reception complete with wedding cake and music by New York chanteuse and UM grad Nicole Henry.

The anthology that has played around the country for two years usually benefits an organization supporting marriage equality. A portion of all proceeds from this edition will be donated to Equality Florida, which bills itself as the largest civil rights organization in Florida dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The plays are penned by a roster of playwrights whose mantles hold Tonys, Obies and Pulitzers. In addition to Rudnick, the other writers include Jeffrey Hatcher (Tuesdays With Morrie), Mo Gaffney (The Kathy and Mo Show) , Jordan Harrison (Maple and Vine), Wendy MacLeod, (House of Yes), Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife), Neil LaBute (Reasons to be Pretty), Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project) and José Rivera (Cloud Tectonics).

Standing On Ceremony originated about two years ago as a one-night-only benefit in support of gay marriage. Other productions followed, including a one-month run Off-Broadway with a rotating cast. Since then, producer Joan Stein has mounted several productions around the country including this one in concert with City Theatre.

The program comes at a key moment in a national controversy over policies that allow same-sex domestic partners to formalize their relationship with a civil union. On one hand, North Carolinians recently amended their state constitution, refusing to recognize anything but a heterosexual couple as marriage. On the other hand, Rudnick quipped, “It also helps when the President is on your side.”

Batt remembers a few weeks ago when a friend told him that President Obama had just endorsed gay marriage. It was the weather that stuck in his mind like a hopeful harbinger. “I looked up in the sky and it was a beautiful sunny day. And I thought, thereâ€s a positive beautiful moment.”

Rudnick also sees signs of hope in a recent CNN poll that found support of gay marriage around 65 percent, a steep increase from a few years ago. Another poll taken in the 1990s found very few people claimed to know someone who was gay. A new poll puts that figure in 70 to 80 percent range, he said.

Rudnick sees Standing On Ceremony as contributing to “a climate of change.” But he notes that gay marriage still is not often portrayed on television or in film. “Itâ€s kind of up to theater to lead the way.”

Participating in the benefits resonates for Batt. His resume documents a lengthy history of social activism including work on the N. O. AIDS Task Force in his native New Orleans where he ran a theater company and still operates an interior design store in the French Quarter with his partner of 23 years.

Batt is in no hurry to get married although the couple toyed with the idea of doing it in Los Angeles before the recent amendment to the state constitution threw the possibility into limbo.

But one of the things he and Rudnick like about Standing On Ceremony is how it depicts a variety of views on the institution regardless of sexuality. “Marriage is not for everyone,” but then he added, “I would love to get married in New Orleans.”

Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays play June 21-24 at the Amaturo Theatre at the Broward Center for the Performing, 201 SW Fifth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call (954) 462-0222 or visit www.BrowardCenter.org.

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• Bruce Vilanch to Star in Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays (wegotbruce.com)

The post Reminder: Bruce Vilanch: The Gay Marriage Plays play June 21-24 at the Amaturo Theatre at the Broward Center first appeared on We Got Bruce!.