HIV/AIDS

Ronald Reagan

President who didn’t address aids until 1985

Press secretary Larry

mocks aids related questions in press briefings

CDC public health disease prevention or NIH medial research

pushed for research on aids/hiv but did not receive enough funding

Gay Men’s Health Crisis

Gay rights organization formed to help men affected providing health education, advocating policy change, and raised awareness

myths

only gay men get aids (gay cancer)

AIDS can be spread through casual touch

punishment for immoral behavior

Women could not get aids, only men

women had “different” symptoms so they were misdiagnosed or ignored

women faught to change the definition of aids to…

legally and medically recognized as having AIDS and get the help they needed.

most drugs to help treat aids were only done by men so…

there was little to no data on how those drugs worked for women so the treatment did not work the same on women. women’s needs were ignored and they were underrepresented

especially women of color dead without diagnosis or treatment

medical bias and intersectionality in gender and racial inequalities left

only ppl who “behaved well” or respectable gay men deserved help which earned support faster

Drag queens, sex workers, drug users: Often excluded or blamed.

government action

government did not care about information or funding any information or acknowledgment for aids for many years

LGBTQ support

LGBTQ+ communities raised awareness, cared for the sick, and demanded federal action.

Regeans administration

prioritized conservative values over public health.

federal government neglect on aids

costed thousands of lives, stigma directly influenced how fast or slow a health crisis is addressed, leadership matters in how society responds to potential disease

ACT UP (aids coalition to unleash power)

radical protest group demanding action by campaigns, die-ins (laying in public acting dead to demand change, and distribution to public events

Aids memorial quilt

massive quilt made up of panels each represent someone who died of aids, families made panels to add to remember their loved ones, displayed in 1987 on the national mall

vigils

Silent gatherings with candles to mourn those who died, created collective grief

mourning became a form of ______

protest

racism in addressing aids

neglected the people of color (black and latino) who died of aids, international erasure of ppl of color who died of aids

Terri Wilder, Katrina Haslip

Advocated for women’s inclusion in HIV policy and trials.

FDA and NIH

Slow to include women in drug trials or recognize how AIDS affected them.

larry kramer

activist, playwriter, author, and director that helped co-find ACT UP

Media

avoided addressing aids and named it a “gay issue” out of homophobia