Let’s make this very clear: U.S. officials, of which they were largely Republican, politicized a blood disease because of who was getting sick first. They remained largely silent and unresponsive to the health emergency. And it wasn’t until September 1985, four years after the crisis began, that President Ronald Reagan first publicly mentioned AIDS. But by then, AIDS was already a full-blown epidemic.
A generation of gay men are dead because of their inaction. A generation of gay men are dead because of these Christ-fearing Christians inability to act Christ-like.
A generation of gay men are dead and we will never fully grasp the losses in every area of society because of it.
Today is the 34th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day. A reconstruction of it’s genetic history shows that the HIV pandemic almost certainly originated in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 1920. AIDS was first recognized in 1981 and by 2009 had caused nearly 30 million deaths. As of 2016, approximately 36.7 million people are living with HIV globally. In 2016, approximately half are men and half are women. There were about 1.0 million deaths from AIDS in 2016, down from 1.9 million in 2005. Prevention and treatment is working.
It is not a gay disease, it is not an African disease, it is not a junkie disease, it is not a disease that is given to people who behave badly or have unacceptable lifestyles, and it is not God’s punishment. It does not discriminate, it just kills. Some of the most influential people in my life are HIV positive, or I should say most of the most influential people in my life are HIV positive.
I am who I am today because of the amazingly talented, fiercely devoted, and ridiculously hilarious guys that have influenced me to boundlessly creative, to love unapologetically, and to be true to what is important to me. Every birthday candle I blow out, every coin I throw into a fountain, every time I am required to make a wish, I wish for their health and a cure to be found.
Waldina 
AIDS is a disease. It should have been prevented through education and accurate media awareness. When it got into the blood supply in NY, it caused massive impact on hospitals, and exposed the capitalist nature of blood and tissue banks. We depended too long on the poor to provide these vital medical products to our caregivers. It certainly was given as much misinformation as COVID. And has had a far longer impact.
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Idiots. They were just being their hateful selves. Republicans are like that. A nightmare made worse because of hatred, discrimination and fear. So terrible. So terrible.
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