AIDS In The 1980s

From Queen to Duran Duran to Madonna, people look back on the 1980s’ with fondness. Nostalgia gives us a warm feeling when we think about it, but the 1980s’ weren’t all synthpop and leg warmers, this decade has a dark side. In 1981, healthy gay men started to develop PCP, an uncommon lung infection, and Kaposi’s Sarcoma, a form of cancer known for being incredibly vicious. Later the same year, the same lung disease was found in drug users who took drugs intravenously. By the end of 1981, 121 people had already died, and as the years progressed the death toll continued to rise from what had been determined to be an immune deficiency. AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was officially named by the CDC in 1982, having first had the name GRID (gay- related immune disorder). AIDS impacted the gay community the most, infecting and killing many, but the social consequences related to AIDS were caused by more factors than just the disease itself.

It was revealed later that when Rock Hudson was dying, he attempted to get help from the First Lady but she turned her back on him, claiming that they didn’t want to show any favoritism, but based on multiple accounts of people who knew the Reagans, it was more about their political agenda. Many people who had met the Reagans claim they were not homophobic. The reason that they ignored AIDS was to get on the good side of evangelical voters. It was a good political move on their part as the evangelical vote has gone to the republicans ever since, but morally, it was disgusting. By the end of the 1980s’, approximately 100,000 people had died, and more were already very