The AIDS Epidemic
In 1981, many gay men in the U.S. began to fall ill to the rare cancer, Kaposi's Sarcoma. The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) were the first to call the disease "gay cancer", and later they renamed it "gay-related immune deficiency" (GRID). The term AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, did not come to be used until 1982. In 1983, the Pastuer Institute in France isolated the HIV virus. In 1985, the first AIDS antibody tests became available in the U.S.
Because the disease was first identified among gay men, AIDS
was popularly considered a gay disease through most of the 1980's and even
the 1990's. Despite this misconception, HIV affected heterosexuals and children
as well -- spread through heterosexual contact, blood transfusions, and IV
drug use. Because it was considered a gay disease, a certain stigma was attached
to having it. Many people claimed AIDS to be "God's punishment on homosexuals".
U.S. President Ronald Reagan did not even speak about AIDS in public until
1987. By this time, there were over 71,176 AIDS c
ases
diagnosed in the U.S. and 41,027 people had died from the disease.
Despite it's devastating impact on the gay community, the AIDS epidemic in many ways brought the gay and lesbian community together. While lesbians have remained the least likely to acquire the disease, their compassion and dedication to their gay male friends with the disease was extraordinary. The Gay Men's Health Crisis was founded in New York in 1982 as a response to the epidemic, and continues to be an authority on HIV/AIDS even today. In the face of stigma and sometimes outright hostility, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) channeled their own anger into political demonstrations to raise awareness of AIDS and to pressure for money and legislation to find a cure. While controversial, even in the Gay community, their radical and in-your-face tactics gained media and public attention. They coined the phrase "Silence = Death".
In 1987, the AIDS Quilt was started in San Francisco as a way to remember those who had died from the disease.
Resources:
Books:
And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts, St. Martin's Press, 1999.
AIDS, Identity, and Community: The HIV Epidemic and Lesbians and Gay Men by Beverly Greene, SAGE Publications, 1995.
Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures by Eric E. Rofes, Haworth Press, 1998.
Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America by John-Manuel Andriote,University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Web Sites:
Video:
Common Threads (Documentary)
And the Band Played On (Historical fiction)
Longtime Compainion (Historical fiction)