During his lifetime, Christian Haren was recognized for his signature looks; a Marlboro man, a Tony nominated stage actor, television star, small business owner, leather daddy, body builder, a “Castro cowboy,” but of all his life’s work Christian’s advocacy and activism as a person living with AIDS integrated the numerous paths his life took before AIDS touched his every day existence. When Christian passed away in 1996, the BAR declared that the PWA community in San Francisco had lost a warrior. But, before he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, Christian’s life was one that toed the line of notoriety and self-reflection. For example, he said in one interview about his life prior to his turn to AIDS work and was an actor and model, “I remember seeing the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s and everybody in the theater was laughing except for me. I absolutely understood the character of Holly Golightly, because I was a male Holly Golightly-all flash and no substance.” Shanti’s work was important to Christian’s identity as an activist and human. In one interview, Christian described his time on Ward 5a as being where he learned he became an “AIDS victim.” “Working very hard with Shanti, I eventually became a person with AIDS.”
