Michael Siever, PhD, a passionate HIV and AIDS activist, harm reduction advocate and psychologist, died April 10 at an assisted living facility in Seattle. He was 74.

 

Siever, who was gay, dedicated his life to serving the LGBTQ community in San Francisco through mental health, substance use and HIV health services.

 

As director of behavioral health at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), he cofounded the Stonewall Project more than 25 years ago. The harm reduction program helps gay and bisexual men with substance use issues.

 

Siever had been living with bone marrow cancer for several years, according to the Bay Area Reporter. His adopted son, Ethan Treber, said he helped care for Siever throughout the last few years. Last month, Siever decided that he was “done with transfusions.”

 

“We at San Francisco AIDS Foundation are saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Siever,” Tyler TerMeer, PhD, the CEO of SFAF, told the Bay Area Reporter. “Michael was an incredible champion for the queer community—dedicating his life and career to building programs and services for gay, bi and trans men who have sex with men and others at risk for HIV.

 

“His deep expertise, and care, in crafting these services lives on today through two programs at SFAF he cofounded more than 20 years ago: the Stonewall Project, which pro-vides substance use treatment and counseling, and Magnet, our sexual health clinic at Strut. Michael’s legacy lives on, and we are so grateful for his contributions to our community,” TerMeer continued.

 

“Michael was a visionary,” said Steve Gibson, cofounder of Magnet. “The way he saw gay men relative to methamphetamine and enabling gay men’s health beyond the paradigm of HIV positive or HIV negative—Michael and I had a vision to change that.”

 

In 2014, Siever retired from SFAF, but his work did not end. In fact, that same year, Siever was co-investigator for a study that highlighted the positive impact of the Stonewall Project on HIV and AIDS prevention.

 

The study showed that Stonewall Project participants decreased their use of stimulants, such as methamphetamine, and reduced their sexual risk behavior.