Thread by @peterstaley

We did it! A small gang of Tony Fauci's HIV/AIDS comrades managed to surprise him yesterday with an 80th birthday Zoom. We had the @TAGTeam_Tweets boys: me, David Barr (+husband @SamAvrett), Mark Harrington, @gregggonsalves, @AgostoMoises and @jimeigo, ... /1

... along with Lawrence “Bopper” Deyton (+ husband Jeff Levi), one of the heroic, gay, frontline AIDS docs in the 80s, having helped cofound Whitman Walker Clinic in the 70s. Tony hired him in the late 80s (partly to handle the activists! see: hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magaz…) /2

Tony has mentored and been mentored by some of the most beloved women in the fight against AIDS, and getting these three on our Zoom felt like winning a trifecta: Doctors Wafaa El-Sadr (icap.columbia.edu/leaders/wafaa-…), Judy Auerbach (thewellproject.org/team-member/ju…), and ... /3

... Peggy Hamburg (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_…), seen here next to Tony during their historic meeting with @actupny's Treatment+Data Committee on October 19, 1989, at the @LGBTCenterNYC (zoom in to see Larry, Mark, David, Simon, Charlie, Richard, and Spencer, among others) /4

And rounding out our dirty dozen were two next-gen activists, @jbkrell (@PrEP4AllNow) & @MTKRose (@HealthGAP), tasked with "riding Tony's ass until he's six feet under" (as I said during the Zoom). /5

Did you know Tony goes on and on about @BarbraStreisand? When you visit his house, you'll often hear her singing in the background ("Alexa, play Barbra!"). /6

Well, with lovely help from @kevsessums, we were able to reach Ms. Streisand, and she generously agreed to add some special surprises to our surprise Zoom, starting with a four-minute personalized message to Tony (which was wonderfully political about his current boss). /7

And @BarbraStreisand also sent gifts! We all watched as Tony opened his presents -- CDs and an LP with handwritten messages on each cover. Here's a bit of our Zoom from just after the four-minute pretape. "This is terrific!" /8

After thirty minutes, we told him to go home and stay home for his birthday: "Take the day OFF!" God knows he needs and deserves it. Happy birthday, Tony. Thank you for all you've done for the world this year. Here's to many more. /end

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