And the Band Played on

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when increasing numbers of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare

Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their

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 movie, And the Band Played On, illustrates the beginning of the AIDS virus and how it unexpectedly spread across the world. It used the Ebola disease to indicate that there will be another severe disease surfacing. The world was not prepared to handle such a transmissible disease. Doctors globally presumed that the first cases of the HIV virus to be just a deformity of a specific disease. Their negligence of this issue was the beginning of the spread of this AIDS. Throughout the movie, it shows various points, such as the start of HIV, the misunderstandings it gave, and the fear it stimulated amongst doctors and everyone else.

The media and the government did not help in alleviating any of these fears and used the Aids panic to broadcast homophobic messages and using the gay community as a scapegoat or ‘folk devil.’

Fears and misconceptions regarding AIDS began when only the homosexual community contracted it. Therefore, people started to believe that only the homosexuals would get the AIDS and blamed them for the cause of the disease. The public was not in fear until some people who were not homosexuals contracted the disease. It was at this time, that the public’s attitude shifted into the fear that anyone was able to have AIDS; it was a sexually transmitted disease. Many were also deceived by the government’s actions. For example, one woman in the movie began to become sick after a blood transfusion. She always thought that it was due to surgical problems, but actually she had contracted AIDS and the doctors knew but didn’t do anything about it. This also caused panic because, even though the government knew AIDS was spreading around they did not do anything about it.

The disease known as AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is the final stage of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, which causes an exceptional amount of damage to the immune system. Certain white blood cells known as lymphocytes are destroyed, resulting in loss of the body's ability to protect itself against disease. Victims undergo an increased susceptibility to infections, various types of cancers, and neurological disorders. The origins and widespread epidemic of AIDS occurred from the 1970s to 1990s in the United States. There are a number of factors that may have contributed to the sudden spread including widespread drug use, the blood industry, and international travel. The 1970s saw an increase in the availability of heroin

Though incurable, there is medication that can be used to help an infected person live a relatively normal life, but the medication is extremely expansive. Thus the number one prevention method is education. The United States government’s response to the entire disease in a medical, social and economic way were consider major failures as millions were left to suffer without support. Unlike today, where one can search the Internet to learn about their disease and how to handle it, back in 1980’s and 1990’s people were being infected and given no guidance from the government on how to handle it. This caused great fear in Americans and many misconceptions about the disease started to develop. People were unaware that the disease could only transfer through the contact of bodily fluids so people with AIDS were socially exiled out of fear that they might infect others. Thus this disease affected the gay community that was already stigmatized by society more than any other single demographic of people.

inevitable that AIDS would be defined in political and cultural terms as well as medically, and

The gay and lesbian communities attempted to fill this gap by volunteering in and self-funding AIDS service organizations, also known as ASOs, providing healthcare alongside educational and preventative services to the community (Policy). In a stark contrast to Reagan’s response, the programs directly impacted those highly affected by AIDS, like drug users and homosexuals. They featured a liberal response of providing free or subsidized services to those in need, directly paralleling how Reagan’s program reflected conservative values. These organizations revolutionized not only responses to the AIDS crisis, because there was no organized medical response at the time, but also centralized the nature of the LGBT community. Although the 1970’s had featured a growing gay rights movement following the Stonewall Riots, the ASOs functioned as an early opportunity to organize in support of a cause, and turn the fervor for change into concrete action. The government refusing to help forced the gay community to help themselves, and they formed bureaucracies and systems of volunteers in response. Although in the latter half of the 1980’s, other institutions like the FDA stepped in to expedite the healthcare process, ASOs served as an early lifeline to those struggling with the disease and centralized the LGBT

The quickly increasing movement took a detrimental hit in the ‘80s “… as the gay male community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic, (they) demand for compassion and medical funding leading to renewed coalitions between men and women as well as angry street theatre by groups like AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Queer Nation” (Morriss, 2017, par 14). Political lobby groups started campaigning against LGB, Churches started believing that AIDS were a damnation from God and the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy emerged in ’94. Not to mention the appalling hate crimes and backlash from society itself.

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

In addition to cutting back research budgets, the Reagan administration also shied away from the issue, despite the fact that it had impacted most of the large cities in the country. On June 5, 1981, the first year of Reagan’s presidency, the CDC published its first report on AIDS (Timeline). However, Reagan did not mention the epidemic until more than five years later. On September 17, 1985, Reagan mentioned AIDS publicly for the first time. Yet, by the time he had delivered his first speech on the epidemic, 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with the disease, and 20,849 had died (Shilts). In addition, in the speech of 1985, he did not mention the word “AIDS” or relate the deadly disease to the gay community, which included some of the most courageous fighters and suffered from the greatest number of deaths (Shilts). As Larry Kramer recalled, “There was talk about hemophiliacs who got AIDS, transfusion recipients, and the spouses of intravenous drug abusers, but the G-word was never

The climate of the 1960s was turbulent. This decade was marked by many political movements, which reflected support for non-establishment themes. During this time the “sexual liberation movement” became a popular cause. This intensified social and political interest helped many disadvantaged groups to receive support and attention that previously had never been received. As part of the nation’s desire for sexual political liberation, gay liberation became visible.

When HIV/AIDS was first known in the United States, people who were affected were dying at a rapid rate as the disease was new to the medical community. There was no treatment and because of that the disease became highly publicized. At the time there were hatred for those who were considered gay. Those who came out and spoke openly about their HIV and AIDS were often being victimized. With the fear and homophobia from society, gay men and women took to the street to demand a government response to AIDS and were influenced to create a national movement.