After nearly 13 years as Director of Magnet, the Castro-based health center and community space, Steve Gibson announced last week that he'll be resigning to become the HIV Prevention Branch Chief at the State Office of AIDS in Sacramento.
The HIV Prevention Branch "funds initiatives to assist local health departments and other HIV service providers to implement effective HIV detection and prevention programs," Gibson tells us. He'll begin the new position on May 16th.
It was only a few months ago that Magnet finally made the move to merge with San Francisco AIDS Foundation's Strut, the long-awaited HIV health clinic in the Castro. Strut combines the services of Magnet, Stop AIDS, Stonewall, Bridgemen, Positive Force, Dreaam Project and the Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network. At Strut, Gibson's title was changed to Director of Sexual Health Services.
Now that the clinic is up and running, "It was time to renew my search," Gibson said. "The position at the State Office of AIDS was the ideal platform for me to take the lessons we’ve learned in San Francisco at preventing new HIV infections and apply them at the State level."
Gibson with Tim Patriarca, Strut's Director of Gay Men's Heath & Wellness. (Photo: SFAIDS Foundation/Facebook)
Gibson tells us this wasn't the first time he'd considered leaving Magnet. He began contemplating moving on around Magnet's 10th anniversary. After 25 years of working in San Francisco, including 10 years spent at STOP AIDS, Gibson "started thinking about what I should do as the next logical extension of what I’ve been doing." But he decided to delay his departure until the SFAF could find a new space in the Castro for Magnet and its programs.
Now that the time has come, "It will be hard to say goodbye to the amazing team of staff and volunteers at Magnet and my equally talented colleagues at San Francisco AIDS Foundation," Gibson said.
Magnet opened at 4122 18th St. on July 9th, 2003 in the former Statscript building, and merged with SFAIDS in 2007. From the beginning, it was Gibson's vision. "Believe it or not, at the time there was no one place doing HIV testing in the Castro," he told 429Magazine in 2013. At its inception, Gibson noted that Magnet did not only provide free sexual health services, it was also a community space that hosted art receptions, massages and acupuncture.
Magnet opens in 2003. (Photo: SFAIDS Foundation/Facebook)
Gibson moved to San Francisco in 1992 after obtaining his Masters Degree from St. Louis University with the specific idea of working in HIV activism. “I moved to the Castro and thought I was going to save the world," he said. "After a couple years I finally convinced the Stop AIDS project to hire me. It was when people were just starting to live longer, but people could still point to blocks where they knew a hundred people who had died.”
Gibson told SF AIDS Foundation in a 2012 interview that "Magnet was conceived of by a group of gay men and other community activists who wanted to redefine health beyond an HIV-positive or HIV-negative paradigm and look at our health in a broader context, including our health as a community."
Gibson continued, "Initially, we were under UCSF before joining San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 2007. We started with five staff members and no volunteers. We projected we would conduct 1,500 clinical visits per year."
During the initial planning that led to Magnet, Gibson tells us, "I was told that a storefront model of offering sexual health services wasn’t needed and that it wouldn’t succeed." In their first year alone they believed they'd see 1,250 clinical visits. In 2015, they saw more than 15,000 visits.
The model of providing integrated HIV and STI services, along with PrEP, "is one that affirms our sexuality without blaming or shaming," says Gibson. "The work that the clinic staff does each and every day inspires me." The Magnet model has been replicated many times, "including in other countries such as Peru, Spain, Australia and most recently in India," continues Gibson.
A replacement for Gibson has not yet been announced, and Gibson says that for whomever takes over his position, "there will be an opportunity ... to bring their vision to Magnet’s continued success," which will entail "continuing to innovate and integrate new advances in technology or science as they evolve."
"Steve has had a tremendous impact on our work and our community," said San Francisco AIDS Foundation Vice President James Loduca. "We are collectively healthier and stronger because of his leadership. He leaves behind an incredible legacy, and I can't wait to see what he does in his next role!"
If you'd like to bid Gibson farewell, he's invited community members to join him at Magnet this Thursday night for a farewell party "to reminisce and raise a glass to send me on my way."
