WAD 2020
In June 5th, 1981, the CDC reported what would officially be the first cases of what we would know as AIDS. They certainly took their time. Some people estimate they started to pop up in 1979. In 1989 Dr. Anthony Fauci (yes, the same Dr. Fauci who has been battling IMPOTUS' misinformation about COVID-19) allowed HIV-positive patients who did not qualify for clinical trials access to experimental treatments. That saved tons of lives and extended many others. This happened one year after the WHO observed the first World Aids Day. It's been thirty two years since that date.
But I still remember Pedro Zamora, from MTV's The Real World in 1994 (the one and only reality tv show I've ever watched) who died of AIDS complications hours after the finale aired. He was the first out gay men I saw on TV who was HIV+. His presence and the conversations it started were some of the first frank discussions about HIV+ and AIDS that I remember.
Now, I still remember when Truvada became accessible in 2012. It was hailed as a breakthrough (and it was!) People who took it were labeled 'truvada whores' and I still want a t-shirt with that on the front. But being a Truvada Whore became a marketing plot for those bareback porn video companies and for Big Pharma. I'm afraid a whole generation of gay men grew up without any awareness towards HIV and about how AIDS could kill. Seroconverting is not an immediate death sentence anymore in their world. Still, around 38 million people still live with AIDS around the world.
Worse still, currently, there is no cure for HIV (even though, as Merlin Purpura points out, there's a COVID-19 vaccine in the works and yet, nothing on HIV). Taking Truvada and using condoms are still essential to any sexually active gay man who wants to stay healthy. But deep down, I feel like some gay men have decided HIV is not a threat anymore. They think they are immune to something that is not tangible to them anymore. Their YOLO attitude makes me wanna slap them with a frozen pork chop.
So my recommendation for this World Aids Day? Talk about it. There are still people (a whole generation, mind you..) who do not know about AIDS. Our job as people over thirty (or forty, or fifty, or sixty) is to remind them of what has happened so the deaths of countless gay men who have passed due to the disease are not in vain. And to prevent that from happening again.
Now, if you cannot imagine how the world was before truvada, take a look at these movies:
BMP. This movie made me cry a little. And the soundtrack is fab.
Angels in America. A must see. If you have the time. It's long but Meryl Streep in multiple roles makes up for it.
How to survive a plague. Because a documentary always hits closer to home.
Oh, and bring some popcorn.
XOXO
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Very beautiful and interesting videos! Today we are in the midst of another pandemic. The years 1919-20 had the "Spanish" epidemic, the 80s had the AIDS epidemic. And a hundred years later we are still with a pandemic that reminds us more of the Spanish than that of AIDS-HIV. Here, also because there is less talk of AIDS-HIV now.
ReplyDeleteI know, right?
DeleteBut I think the only thing that makes AIDS different is that it was mainly tied to sex. And you know how people feel about sex. It has that dirty, hidden side to it for so many people...
XOXO
I worked with the AIDS Foundation here for their 30th Anniversary. We did video interviews with the early activists and doctors. It was heartbreaking to hear some of the stories. It was worse to know that some gays were out ****purposely**** getting infected because of Truvada and the benefits they thought they would come their way: Monthly rent check, food, free medical. That was tough to learn. Educational seminars started at the LGBTQ center immediately following that uncovering.
ReplyDelete"They Boys In the Band" and "The Band Played On" are both good films. One many folks miss: Aiden Quinn in "An Early Frost." (Probably his first noted role.) XOXO
That's awesome, Big!
DeleteAnd I cannot believe people keep seroconverting, sometimes just because they WANT to. It's like they don't KNOW AIDS kills. It's not an easy life, taking medical cocktails the rest of their lives.
I love The Band Played On. I read the book before I saw the movie. Super good. And Aiden Quinn, huh? He's sooooooo handsome. That may be in Amazon...
XOXO
With the meds out there, soo many have decided to just live with it which is why there is less chat about the disease.
ReplyDeleteWhich is something I cannot explain.
DeleteThe same way I cannot explain gay Repugs, I cannot explain who some people would seroconvert on PURPOSE. It blows my mind.
XOXO
man, fauci has been around a LONG time, doing good!
ReplyDeleteand sweet pedro; I too watched that "real world" and cried when he died.
one of my blog friends is HIV+ and is now in his 60s.
I know!
DeleteWhen Cheeto was fighting with him, I was like, do you EVEN know who Dr. Fauci is?
The Real World gave us Pedro and unleashed 'reality tv' on us. Pedro dying was devastating.
And you've mentioned your friend. So lucky.
XOXO
I just re watched "A Normal Heart" last week. Another movie done in 1991 is, "Our Sons" with Julie Andrews, Ann Margret, and a very young Hugh Grant. (Have Kleenex close at hand.) There is an AIDS Museum here in Ft Lauderdale.
ReplyDeleteDuring this time (1980s), I worked at a VA Medical Center and witnessed the horrible deaths first hand. No movie could ever capture the violent, cruel, horrific endings of life these people went through.
Pedro Zamora was one, but the person who stays in my mind is Vito Russo. Every Gay person in the US should watch (and contribute to) "Gay USA" weekly, on FreeSpeechTV cable channel. Ann Northrop and Any Humm are people who fought and educated the public during those days and are still fighting the fight today.
Ohh
DeleteI have never watched 'Our Sons'. It may be time to do a search. And I know that all these early-AIDS movies are absolute tearjerkers.
And there's a museum? If I make it again to Ft. Lauderdale I'll make sure I visit it.
The 80's were horrible for gay people. I cannot imagine working in the medical profession at that time. All the fear, all the misinformation. All the stigma.
And I have never heard of Gay USA. I wonder if they have an online presence, because I don't have cable. Education, Jimmy. It's fundamental.
XOXO
Oh yes, I remember the days when HIV was an automatic death sentence. That was the era when my friends and I were all coming out. Scary times indeed. So many lives cut tragically short.
ReplyDeleteOh, so many, many lives.
DeleteLooking back, you can literally scream when watching the injustices, the rejection of the families, the stigma. A dark, dark period.
XOXO
Thanks for calling the day out. Awareness is everything. And every voice matters. AIDS has always been treated differently... because of the populations it affects. We've moved the needle a bit... but not far enough. History... it informs.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Every voice matters.
DeleteAnd you are right. AIDS was directly connected to gay sex and that's something that the religulous wrong have used to demonize it. Yep, the needle has moved a little, but education is still needed.
XOXO
I've seen all those films and documentaries. Sad that we still need to remind people that AIDS is still here.
ReplyDeleteSilence DOED equal death.
Oh, absolutely.
DeleteIt was a truly inspired slogan then and it still is today. Netflix and Hulu should have more of these movies in their stable. I have watched them all at one time or another, but sometimes they can only be found On Demand.
XOXO
Thank you for your very well-done post! (whkattk told me about it)
ReplyDeleteAww thanks!
DeleteBig is such a sweetheart.
Thanks for stopping by!!
XOXO
Longtime Companion always reminds me of how bad it was, the 3 folks I saw that with all died within a year. Thanks for reminding me what today is, can't believe I didn't remember when I woke up.
ReplyDeleteLongtime Companion was an excellent movie and one of my favorites!!!!! I never get to the end of that movie with a dry eye. A very well done movie and cast...and your right, really captured the pandemic.
DeleteOHMYGOD
DeleteLongtime Companion makes me cry every time. Every time I watch it I bawl my eyes out. Sorry about your friends! People tell me that they would go to a funeral EVERY WEEK it was so bad.
The movie also had a very young Dermot Mulroney. I used to have a friend who looked just like him.
XOXO
It’s shocking that we still don’t have a cure or vaccine. It was not acknowledged by the Regan administration (hmm another repug, what’s with these turds and healthcare? Oh yeah homophobic).
ReplyDeleteLike everyone said, we must keep the spotlight on the problem. And our leaders need to be reminded that AIDS is still around and needs research money.
XOXO 👨❤️💋👨
Oh, that's what my friend was saying.
DeleteWTH is wrong with science? We've had HIV for what, more than thirty years and NOTHING?
It has to do with homophobia. Nobody is going to convince me of anything else.
XOXO
Excellent post and what a great reminder to us all.
ReplyDeleteThnx, Maddie.
DeleteI think it's worth repeating it is still important to talk about HIV and AIDS. People tend to forget what they don't see often...
XOXO
Mana, gracias por la mención (que me honra aparecer en tu blog). Fabuloso post, muy bien documentado, con geniales videos e indiscutibles opiniones. Besos y abrazos desde el otro lado el océano.
ReplyDeleteTuro
Pero claro!
DeleteQue me has puesto a pensar. Pero eso no es nada nuevo.
Picos, desde la PM.
XOXO
So why can we still see beautiful seemingly smart and educated men on twitter having unprotected anal intercourse? Why is ANAL the end all be all of gay sex or even gay fun? These days it feels like you either JO on cam or meet someone for ANAL.
DeleteI guess Prep gives them a false sense of security? It would be better if they wear a condom, tbh. And some people really like anal.
DeleteXOXO