July 25, 2025 The Newspaper Serving LGBT Los Angeles

APLA Co-Founder Matt Redman remembered at WeHo memorial

Matt Redman, who co-founded AIDS Project Los Angeles in 1982 with Nancy Cole Sawaya, Ervin Munro and Max Drew, was remembered Sunday afternoon in West Hollywood City Chambers as a man of courage, integrity and determination. Redman, who believed he acquired HIV disease in the late 1970s,died Dec. 27 of cardiopulmonary arrest in Southern California Hospital at Culver City. He was 67.  

John Duran

The memorial was a casual reunion of family, friends, and longtime AIDS activists. West Hollywood City Councilmember John Duran, flanked by photos of Redman through various stages of his life, recalled the times in the early 1980s when Redman, an interior designer, stepped up and became an AIDS warrior. 

Redman “was a force to be reckoned with” as “we, as a community, walked through a plague. It was unprecedented,” Duran said, putting Redman, who helped create the AIDS Action Council, in the larger context the AIDS crisis. “There would have been no wedding cakes without that response.” 

Duran joked that he could almost hear Redman “bark” in his ear as the out HIV-positive councilmember promised that Redman’s legacy of work would be permanently “enshrined in some way,” presumably at the AIDS Monument, which is being planned for West Hollywood Park.  It’s important that LGBT kids know “they came from good stock,” Duran said.

Redman’s brother Brian Redman

Redman’s brother Brian Redman affectionately recalled how Matt was not as athletic as he was growing up. “But what he lacked in athletic ability, he made up foe in personality.” How un-athletic? Brian told of how he came to Los Angeles to film a public service announcement with Magic Johnson. “Who’s that?” Matt asked. 

Brian Redman also joked about how Matt later told his brother, a huge Washington Redskins football fan, that he had dated famous record-setting tight end Jerry Smith. “Had he told me then, I’d still be in therapy now,” Brian Redman said to laughter. Smith contracted HIV/AIDS after he retired in 1977, dying of AIDS in 1986 at age 43.

Brian also talked about how his brother loved his wife and two daughters, who also attended the memorial with the love of Matt’s life, his former partner Tim. Brian shared how much the comments to the story about Matt’s death posted on APLA’s Facebook page mattered to him and his family, reading a few comments as an example.

APLA Health Chief Executive Officer Craig Thompson, WeHo City Councilmember John Heilman and Charles Robbins

APLA Health Chief Executive Officer Craig Thompson (pictured with WeHo City Councilmember John Heilman and Charles Robbins) noted that Redman spent more than half his life responding to AIDS at APLA. Thompson said he spent 20 of those years working for Redman, who was both a “visionary” and “an opinionated micro-manager,” a man with integrity who was “always concerned about ending the AIDS epidemic.” He was “relentless.”

Redman said from the very beginning that it was not enough to bury friends, Thompson recalled, pushing APLA to get involved with the important policy-making decisions at AIDS Action Council.  Redman not only cared for the individual with HIV/AIDS but “he never lost sight of the bigger picture of ending the epidemic,” Thompson said.   

Redman’s friend Fred Croton said he met Redman first over the phone, when Croton worked in the Cultural Affairs Department at Los Angeles City Hall. Redman called Croton to secure a space to hold an art auction and was told, “We can do that.” Twenty-five years later Croton discovered that Redman had gone everywhere to find a place for the auction and had been turned down until Croton’s important “yes.” Croton also quoted from John Milton’s poem “Paradise Lost” to underscore Redman’s “courage to never submit or yield.”

Jeff Jenest

Jeff Jenest talked about how he bonded with Redman right away after joining APLA’s board of directors in 1992 because like him, Redman was also “loud.” Jenest said that as he endured several hip surgeries, Redman “knew how to deal with life that had stripped us of our more defining attributes.” Redman, Janest said, “was my best girlfriend and I will miss him all the days of my life.”

James Mason

James Mason, who organized the memorial, knew Redman as both the body builder and a party girl at Probe. Once Redman called him for help to “practice” before a bowling date with a man Redman met on Grindr. Mason didn’t really know how to bowl but went along as a friend, meeting Redman outside a place in Koreatown with two armed guards at the door. Inside, they were the only white gay guys and their lane was sandwiched between a romantic couple making out and what Mason took to be tougher kids. He wasn’t so sure they belonged there. 

Nonetheless, Redman needed the practice so they decided to bowl.  However, Redman had arthritis in his joints and was only able to stand in a semi-squat and toss the bowling ball forward. It plunked down hard on the lane and rolled a bit before landing in the gutter. Mason wasn’t much better. But, he recalled, by the end of the game, the young people on either sides “were cheering us on,” and they felt the “joy, the love, the camaraderie” that came their way “just by being ourselves.” 

Mason said he spoke with Redman just before Christmas and urged him to go to the doctor to check out a breathing issue. Redman said he would go later; he wanted to spend Christmas with his cat. “I think deep down in his heart, he knew it was time,” Mason said. “But he was at peace.”

Former APLA Board Chair David D. Wexler and his spouse David L. Beckerman

Among those who attended the memorial were former APLA Board Chair David D. Wexler and his spouse David L. Beckerman. Wexler is widely credited with having saved APLA from bankruptcy when the agency experienced a $1 million deficit in 1989.

 

Randi Fine and her mother Sharon Weber

Also there were Randi Fine and her mother Sharon Weber, who worked with the late Dr. Joel Weisman at Pacific Oaks medical group.  

Redman’s family and friends lingered at a reception long after the memorial concluded, not wanting to let go of the love and memories that brought them together.  

in NEWS
Related Posts

Unmasking ICE: Senators Push for Visible IDs After Secretive LA Immigration Raids

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Bill Requires Federal Agents to Display Visible Identification During Raids U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on...

Bacio di Latte’s Beverly Hills Gelateria Debut Blends Italian Tradition with California Cool

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Gelateria Features In-House Gelato, Espresso Drinks, and Decadent Signature Flavors Bacio di Latte has officially opened its latest U.S. flagship...

Housing for Health Chief Appointed to Lead Unified Homeless Services Department

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Veteran Housing Advocate to Oversee Streamlined LA County Services The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday confirmed the...

Brentwood Feels Impact as Feds Slash Office Leases Across Los Angeles

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

New Tracker Reveals Over 70,000 Square Feet Cut in 2025 Alone Los Angeles County’s office market is experiencing a fresh...

Rainbow Crosswalk at Pulse Memorial Could Be Removed Under New Federal Rules

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Trump Administration’s Program Urges States to Eliminate “Non-safety” Road Art, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a bizarre order for...

Interview: The Dinah Creator Mariah Hanson on Legacy, Change, and the Future of Queer Celebration

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

After 34 Groundbreaking Years, Hanson Reflects on Joy, Power, and Her Final Dinah  We spoke with Mariah Hanson, the creator...

Shore Hotel: A Local Destination for Summer Fun

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Bring on all things summer. Walking or biking along Santa Monica Pier, you might find yourself taking a pause at...

One Last Bite: La Novia Bids Farewell with Final Pop-Up at Cardinale du Vin

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Inventive Latin-Asian Pop-up Serves Seasonal Small Plates for One-Night-Only La Novia, the pop-up kitchen known for its inventive Latin-Asian flavors,...

Governor Newsom Unveils Fast-Track Rebuilding Plan on Six-Month Anniversary of Palisades Fire

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

State Clears Over 5.5 Billion Pounds of Debris From Fires Ahead of Schedule Marking six months since the devastating Eaton...

Soprano Golda Zahra Returns to BroadStage For a One-Night-Only Musical Celebration

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

Hailed as “the rising star of the opera world” by The Hollywood Times, internationally acclaimed soprano Golda Zahra makes her much-anticipated return to BroadStage in...

Transform Your Life: The Free Virtual ONENESS GLOBAL SUMMIT Debuts July 18-20, 2025

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

The ONENESS GLOBAL SUMMIT, a transformative three-day virtual event, is coming, July 18-20, 2025, offering participants worldwide a free opportunity...

July 4 ICE Raid on WeHo Car Wash Ends in Deportation of Local Resident

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

Longtime West Hollywood Worker with Family’s Rent Money Taken in Raid A group of masked men and women, without official...

Bel Air and Holmby Hills Estates Lead May’s List of America’s Top 10 Home Sales

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

LA Claims Two of the Top Three Luxury Home Sales Last Month expensive residential transaction in the U.S. for May,...

Newhart Family Lists Beloved Comedy Legend’s Townhouse in Century City

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

Late TV Star’s Custom Townhouse, Filled With Memories and Holiday Cheer  A luxurious Century Woods townhouse once home to comedy...

Caitlyn Jenner’s Friend and Former Foundation CEO Dies in Malibu ATV Crash

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

ATV Plummeted 350 Feet After Rear-Ending Vehicle in Malibu Sophia Hutchins, former CEO of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation and longtime...