By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hundreds of people gathered at services across Greater Cincinnati Sunday to share stories, shed tears and remember the tens of millions of people worldwide who have been infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Sunday marked World AIDS Day 2002.

At a vigil at First Lutheran Church in Over-the-Rhine, it was a chance to speak out against the stigma and discrimination many patients face.

"We were just ostracized in our own church," said Julie Posey of College Hill, whose husband was diagnosed in 1986. "It was painful. I mean seriously painful."

People continued to look down on her family after they had two more children - neither of whom tested positive - after learning he had the disease, the mother of four said.

Norman Hampton also faced that backlash. His diagnosis in 1983 caused "a family breakup," and left the 50-year-old Roselawn resident leaning on friends for support.

"It took me six months to get myself together," said Mr. Hampton, a gay man who was using drugs at the time. "I thought, `I came from a good family. I wasn't supposed to get that.' "

But AIDS does not discriminate, several people told the more than 100 people at First Lutheran in an event hosted by Minority AIDS Prevention Alliance.

In Greater Cincinnati, the virus has killed 1,254 people since emerging in 1982. Another 1,537 area residents are living with AIDS or HIV infections, state health officials say.

Edith Miller spoke at Sunday's event to tell people to visit the city's clinics and get tested.

Her oldest son, Ezra, 44, died in 1999 after coping with the disease for six years. During that time, she said he faced discrimination from the community and lost his medical insurance.

"You can't talk down to a sick person - you have to learn to accept people as they are," said Ms. Miller, a 64-year-old Avondale resident. "He was a good boy and we loved him."

Thomas Massie, 47, who lives in an Over-the-Rhine shelter, said "I learned more about the disease from being here for a few minutes than I have on TV and on all the billboards. It could be me, it could be you. And I think about, if I got sick, would I be strong enough to let others know?"

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com