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level of persecution and stigmatization, which discouraged many gays from getting tested for the
virus and from disclosing their sexual orientation out fear of association with the virus. Gay bars
became the nexus of support for the city's gay community, especially for young men who were
HIV positive.27

Fambro himself never contracted the virus, but exhibited concern and compassion for
those who did. In 1985, he founded a support group called Middle Georgia People With AIDS
(MGPWA) at the gay bar We Three. Every Tuesday evening Fambro hosted a happy hour at We
Three to discuss the concerns of those afflicted. Soon those discussions morphed into raising
money for those who were ill and losing jobs and housing. MGPWA members worked as
volunteers, making sure all donations went to the people who needed the resources. Fambro
formalized non-profit status for the group and solicited private donations to fund its operations.
In addition, the group sold rainbow-colored ribbons and eventually established a gift shop in the
gay bars and clubs to raise money. As Fambro explained in an interview, “The average life
expectancy of an individual with HIV back then was 9 months.” He recalled that “They couldn’t
get benefits and we were trying to keep them alive and housed.”28 The organization received help
from other organizations that shared its goals.
The complementing efforts of the MGPWA

Not including those who were diagnosed with HIV, between 1981 and 1985, four AIDS
cases were reported in Georgia's 20-county mid-state area, according to Margaret Draganac,
AIDS Project Manager for Georgia.29 Seeing the number of cases grow, Fambro aligned himself
with other progressive activists and infectious disease specialists. At about the same time that

27 Andrew Gorman-Murray and Peter Hopkins, Masculinities and place (Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2014), 302.
28 "Middle Georgia resource compassion fuels comprehension services at Central City AIDS Network," HIV Risk Reduction 9
(2009): 1-4, https://www.pdffiller.com/en/project/147277139.htm?f_hash=e04b5c&reload=true.
29 Willie Drye, "Drag Show benefits AIDS victims," Telegraph (Macon), August 6, 1985, 6A.

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