When Tragedy struck the Friends of Dorothy
When Tragedy struck the Friends of Dorothy
Last week, following an excruciatingly monotonous mass (as one does on the Sabbath), one of the closing announcements stood out to me.
The wrinkly, close-to-senile priest read off of his sheet with no true compassion in his tone.
‘On the 24th of November the grotto will be adorned with banners and stalls dedicated to HIV awareness, accompanied by group prayer for HIV survivors preceding December 1st, which marks “World AIDS Day.”’.
The HIV epidemic of the 1980s served as a precedent for LGBT rights in contemporary society, marking the beginning of a devastating but also transformative period in queer American history and exposing the state and its people for neglect, homophobia, and the fragility of queer livelihood.
At the time the virus was disproportionately effective, the ‘‘Four H club’’ describes the four social criteria that made an individual highly susceptible to the virus.
The disproportionate number of homosexual carriers of the disease is linked to the underdevelopment, or rather deferred development, of medical treatment and the study of the disease.
Mysterious illness turned into “Gay cancer,” as referred to by numerous activists and journalists prior to sourcing out the true nature of the disease (that being the autoimmune nature). This is because the epidemic was followed by the established American fear of cancer, therefore equating the two.
Some of the notable symptoms of AIDS acknowledged at the time were KS (Kaposi Sarcoma), a type of cancer that developed on the lining of the blood and lymph vessels, and PCP (Pneumocystis Pneumonia), both being opportunistic diseases, which are basically diseases spread by pathogens that do not normally infect or cause disease in the average layman; however, when exposed to a compromised immune system, they do.
AIDS tore down the cities filled with love, the sudden flood of obituaries of gay men in newspapers becoming a haunting attestation of the lives claimed by the virus, reaching highs of 75,457 in 1992. (CDC)
Silence=Death was more than a mere political slogan; it was a declaration of the populace’s disappointment in the state now more than ever. Failure of education, silence in delayed funding and media, and slow approval of appropriate care fed into the structural problem and led to the inevitable blaming of the victims and mobilizing their suffering as incompetence or impurity in ‘sodomy.’
Churches played a significant role in the moral panic, targeting homosexuals as folk devils through public moral condemnation, directly contributing to the delay and disregard of the fatal syndrome.
The media had no problem in quoting and giving bigots the time of day.
Church doors closed, funerals denied, hospital wards refusing care out of fear of contagion or visitations.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:35-40
For I was hungry, and you refused me sustenance.
For I was thirsty and you refused me drink.
For I was cold, and you refused me warmth.
Why must evangelicals withhold from victims of pestilence?
At the height of fear, a nationally renowned evangelical Pastor Fawell declared that
“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
State: Useless! (Go figure!)
On the 15th of October 1982, a press debriefing involving Rev. Lester Kinsolving interviews Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes; the first query about the administration’s input on the AIDS epidemic.
RL: Larry (.) does the president have any reaction to the announcement by the Center for Disease control in Atlanta that AIDS is now an epidemic in over 600 cases
LS: A-I-D-S (.) I haven’t got anything on it
RL: Over a third of them have died(3) It’s known as Gay Plague
//
[external press pool laughter]
RL: It is (.) its a pretty serious thing (2) One in every three people that get this have died (.) and I wonder if the President is aware of this
LS: I don’t have it(1)are you(.)do you
[Transcription done personally so please do excuse the amatuer work; the rest of the video for reference , so so much worse.]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took minimal action and declined to develop a preventative strategy due to the absence of treatments and vaccinations for those affected, given this was before PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). They openly ridiculed the victims, and the CDC’s institutional response was heavily influenced by the Reagan administration. This is evident in the appointment of the CDC head, directly chosen by Reagan, which resulted in the propagation of moral conservatism and an unwillingness to address issues related to homosexuality. Consequently, discussions aligned with Reagan’s personal biases, resembling a self-serving echo chamber. (political circle jerk)
Ronnie and Larry ova here
Therefore, the institutional silence was not merely bureaucratic inadequacy but a result of a politicized health system. Federal leadership prioritized moral ideology and public image over clear disease prevention.
The same guy linked to the ‘War on Drugs,’ more like ‘War on immigrants’ Oh, and the Monkeys scandal!
Community care and Social Activism
One of the most impactful, yet underappreciated, aspects of the AIDS epidemic is the essential role played by lesbian nurses, caregivers, and women’s health professionals.
YOLO (You Only Lesbian Once) was most likely their motto.
In cities such as San Francisco and New York, they went beyond clinical care by transforming hospitals, wards, and makeshift community houses into safe havens of dignity. They treated relentless infections, managed transfusions under extreme shortages, and vigilantly monitored opportunistic illnesses, often in conditions that terrified or repelled other staff. Their work extended beyond the physical, as they sat through endless nights beside the dying, held trembling hands as lives slipped away, whispered words of comfort when families had abandoned them, and challenged hospital policies that treated patients as problems rather than human beings.
Their caregiving was a quiet act of defiance, refusing the dehumanizing social scripts that painted gay men as “undeserving,” making resistance tangible and lifesaving.
Practical demonstrations of their commitment were extraordinary.
When gay men were barred from donating blood, hospitals scrambled to find compatible supplies; lesbian nurses and volunteers organized blood drives, advocated fiercely for patient access, and donated their time and labor without hesitation. Oral histories and documentaries reveal women who constructed home-care networks in the shadows, staffed hospice projects when hospitals faltered, and fought to ensure that those dying from AIDS received not only medical care but humanity, comfort, and respect. Many risked their careers, endured workplace hostility, and faced societal scorn, yet they persisted. Their courage, dedication, and empathy became a lifeline for a community left abandoned by institutions and governments.
They were then on referred to as “blood sisters,” and this passion and altruism is honoured through the position of “L” being first in the acronym ‘LGBTQIA+’ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual).
The community being left to fend for itself wasn’t all bad. Amidst government neglect and violent homophobia, grassroots organizations emerged, such as ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and the GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis). The GMHC provided hotlines to assist vulnerable gay men looking for both emotional and medical support and legal aid and helped them access healthcare the state had denied them.
Similarly, ACT UP, established in 1987, took activism a step further; rather than just humanitarian work, they prioritised active destruction of the structural issues, focusing on the perpetrator with theatrical and organised protesting and disrupting government debriefings to pressure them into finally taking a step. For instance, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) was successfully pressured into accelerating drug approvals
The “Ashes Action” protest is documented by the ACT UP Oral History Project — in that protest,. Activists reportedly dumped ashes and. Bone chips of people who had died of AIDS onto the White House grounds as a political statement
Moreover, they devised the infamous political activist slogan ‘Silence = Death’ accompanied by a signature right-side-up pink triangle to deliberately make a reference to the pink upside-down triangle badge of shame used in concentration camps in Nazi Germany to shame and identify homosexuals; however, they reclaimed the right-side-up triangle to symbolize deconstruction and dismantling of bigotry, oppression, and marginalization of homosexual men by making an appearance in multiple forms of activism and art.
[Photograph taken in 1935, Aushwitz]
[Silence=Death, Keith Haring]
As always, art depicts stories and the soul infinitely better than words could.
Figures like Keith Haring used graphic and vibrational imagery to depict urgency, sexuality, and the fluidity of life in his art.
When Haring was diagnosed with HIV, his work shifted towards a series of social commentary-esque art promoting safe sex, memorializing those lost, and calling for community activism.
[Unfinished Painting, Keith Haring]
This painting was purposefully left unfinished by Haring to represent his life being cut short by AIDS. It has sometimes been described as a self-portrait, with the incomplete nature of the piece representing Haring’s unfinished career and the art he would not be able to create. This painting has also been described as a statement on the AIDS epidemic‘s destruction of the gay community and culture, with the sudden shift into blank canvas indicating the sudden onset of the pandemic. -Smithsonian Institution
Likewise, Felix Gonzalez‑Torres’s “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.),” often referred to as the “Candy Pile,” is an installation of 175 pounds (45.36 kilograms) of multi-colored little wrapped pieces of candy in a corner piled up, representing the body weight of the artists’ partner. Whilst the visitors are encouraged to consume one piece per visit, the gradual depletion of the candy represents the shrinking of Laycock (his partner), who unfortunately passed due to complications tied in with HIV. The restoration of the candy by the museum when it runs out serves as a metaphor for keeping Laycock’s memory and the victims like him alive.
[Portrait of Ross in L.A]
The AIDS epidemic ripped up families and communities with immense suffering and exposed societal hardship, but it also forced unprecedented solidarity.
By the 1990s, advances in medicine such as antiretroviral therapies and improved HIV treatments and protocols such as PrEP were discovered—transforming AIDS from a death sentence to a feasible, controlled disease.
The Rainbow flag, once a symbol of pride, transformed into a banner that yarns the stories of resilience, healing, and remembrance.
— Andrea Gonsalves [Dirth]
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