History Of GLAAD

One of the big factors early on is that no one wanted to be associated with AIDS due to the fact that it was considered a homosexual man’s disease. There was a lot of fear, denial and anger surrounding this disease. In 1981at the CDC Dr. Guinan asks that a report about an epidemic with gay men had broken out and he wanted it published in the medical journal. The fear of the word “homosexual” was marked off and not used for that article. It took a long time for the realization that this disease could affect everyone from homosexual males, IV drug users, blood transfusion patients, women and even babies. Even though it was initially considered the disease came from gay men and their sexual practices it crossed all borders as time went on. Still today there is some prejudice regarding AIDS. (Spelling, Vincent &

The dawn of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980’s prompted delayed waves of responses sweeping out across America. First impacting a scattering of gay men in San Francisco, the disease gained the stigma of being a “gay disease” that fascinated the nation as health systems and communities struggled to cope with its rapid spread. However, one man, seemingly unaffected by the mix of panic and curiosity, did not react. The Ronald Reagan administration has historically been criticized for its lack of response to the AIDS crisis. Many different aspects of society were instead forced to step up and carry the burden of slowing and responding to the crisis, in a reactionary shift. The Reagan administration’s lackluster response to the AIDS crisis of the

Once the New York Time published Rare Cancer seen in 41 Homosexuals, it stated that, “Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer.” (Atlman) This started the stigma that this cancer was only affecting homosexuals and the term “gay cancer” was created. By the end of 1981 there were 270 gay men with severe immune deficiency and about 44% of those men had passed away the same year. Additionally, researchers started calling this illness GRID which stood for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. Consequently, A Timeline of HIV/AIDS on the government website on AIDS stated, “This terminology influences both the medical profession and the public to perceive the epidemic as limited to gay men, with serious long-term consequences for women, heterosexual men, hemophiliacs, people who inject drugs, and children. (“A Timeline of HIV/AIDS”2017) Because it was perceived as something that only affected the LGBTQ+ community causes that arouse of other people created a fear among

Initial cases with the disease all involved intravenous drug users and homosexual men. Soon after the discovery, the medical community learnt that the disease spread swiftly among drug users, homosexual men, and individuals requiring frequent blood transfusions. This led to the belief that the disease only affected individuals who indulged in immoral activities and anyone who did not participate in such activities would not acquire the disease. During this early period, the perception in the society was that the infected individuals deserved little sympathy and help as they brought this tragedy upon themselves due to their irresponsible behavior. This public opinion “hindered the amount of interest in public funding of AIDS research and in education of the public”

The same time of the gay culture boom the disease started also known as GRID (gay related immune deficiency dubbed by the media). The CDC curious

The origin of AIDS can be traced back to 1959 in Zaire, but it wasn’t until the 1980s where AIDS was discovered that it can be transmitted by bodily fluids and that HIV operates by destroying the T-4 cell, which makes people vulnerable to infections. This was an important as it showed retroviruses such as HIV can cause other diseases.

The first cases of AIDS appeared shortly after the experiment began in Manhattan. In June 1981 the epidemic became official and quickly labeled the "gay ­related immune deficiency syndrome", later known as AIDS.

Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.

HIV/AIDS, was a disease with social stigma due to its association with the gay community. However, after the rise of sexual liberation starting in the 1960s, the fear of homosexuals became more concrete, as sexuality was discussed more openly[footnoteRef:35]. Historically a disease was viewed in both social and cultural terms, and the ill can be viewed as being caused by perversions from societal norms[footnoteRef:36]. This happened with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For conservatives, HIV/AIDS was a justified specter, one that could be vindicated as “God’s Judgement” and as a crackdown on the “heinous lifestyle”[footnoteRef:37]. Because HIV/AIDS was so concentrated in particularly deviant groups, the logical linkage of the disease to the gay lifestyle was easy. “Gays (IDUs) chose to be gay (and drug injectors) of their own will. A Supreme Court decision in June 1986 reinforced the moral

Politically, both in America and Britain, the idea of a Gay related illness was something which did not

Much like the emergence of HIV in the United States, the first HIV cases in South Africa were found in the homosexual male population. In 1983, two homosexual, South African men passed away from opportunistic infections associated with autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In the months following, many other homosexual men became infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which caused the people of South Africa to consider AIDS a disease that solely infected homosexuals. Sadly, this misperception created stigma around becoming infected with HIV.

According to a report published in the February 1998 edition of “Nature”, scientists identified what they believe is the earliest case of AIDs in a man from the Congo in 1959. (Lerner and Hombs 39) By the end of the year 1980, 80 men would have been diagnosed with at least of the opportunistic infections that are a characteristic of AIDs. (Lerner and Hombs 40) AIDs cases in the 1980s increased dramatically not only around the world but in the United States, primarily in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. The numbers of AIDs diagnoses and deaths spiraled out of control throughout the 1980s and towards the end of 1989 there were 117,500 cases of AIDS reported and 89,000 related deaths.(Lerner and Hombs 54) In the

However, AIDS is not a disease; it is a symptom that derives from being infected by a virus called HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. While AIDS and HIV are two different sickness, HIV is the leading cause of AIDS, killing millions. HIV was first discovered in the late 1970s in the United States and AIDS was soon later on termed in 1982 as a term that describes the symptom of HIV (“Where did HIV come from?”). AIDS/HIV existed before, but scientists and doctors never noticed it until 1981 when large lymph nodes emerged and intrigued researchers such as Dr. Mathilde Krim (“Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS”). The disease afflicted many other people before its discovery, but it is only first record in the late 1970s. Soon, the number of AIDS cases and deaths increased drastically, going from 159 to 2,807 cases per year in two years (“Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS”). The term AIDS and HIV are used interchangeably as AIDS is only a name of the symptom that HIV causes. The advancement of technology and understanding of the sickness allowed doctors to understand the cause of AIDS/HIV and uncover more cases each year. With the technology in the world today, testing for AIDS/HIV requires only a blood sample and analysis; there is no confusion on whether the symptoms are of a different disease. However, even though technology advanced greatly over the years, AIDS, like the Plague is incurable during

Before beginning to analyze the accuracy of the portrayal of the AIDS epidemic throughout Angels in America, the virus must first be looked at in its actual historical context. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is a collection of symptoms and complications due to a deficient immune system that is the result of HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The AIDS epidemic made its presence in the United States known on June 5, 1981 when five men were diagnosed with a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia, amongst other infections. The previously healthy, gay men were on the decline due to a compromised immune system. These cases were

Ever since the early 21st century, there have been many stigmas and discrimination towards individuals who have contracted certain viruses such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). According to studies, HIV traces back to the 1920s in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as AIDS. By the 1960s, HIV had made its way to Haiti by transport routes and workers who had been temporarily staying in Congo returning to their homes. Those who had the virus dealt with extreme discrimination, as well as racism and stigma. Soon enough, the deadly disease had arrived to The United States of America, and its bountiful population did not react well. People began to associate HIV and AIDS with gay men,