I’ve been thinking about the AIDS crisis a lot over the past month & have a deeper appreciation for it.
Sure, there are differences between HIV & Covid, but the idea of an illness tearing through communities is scary. (1/10)

Like today, NYC was the one of the hardest hit areas for the early days of HIV. But the way these two viruses played out couldn’t be more different. (2/10)

Today, it’s incredible to see people coming together by staying apart. We cheer on the healthcare workers doing everything they can to minimize the suffering &loss. We sing along to the victory songs played when covid patients are discharged. We try to put a marker on each (3/10)

&Every one of the tens of thousands of people who are dying from this. And we encourage government to find vaccines, improve testing and just do the right thing. This should all be celebrated.

But we should realize how lucky we are. (4/10)

Quarantining was a also hot topic 35 years ago.

An LA Times poll from 1985 showed that half of all Americans wanted to quarantine AIDS patients.

1 in 7 wanted the government to tattoo those with AIDS.

Rather than rallying around sick people, they became The Other.

(5/10)

In the early 80s, the healthcare workers who helped AIDS patients were largely ostracized. The victims, stigmatized. Some families hid causes of deaths for fear of shame on a life lived or a family name. (6/10)

The mayor, the president, didn’t utter a word. It’s unfathomable that it took years and 12,000+ deaths before Reagan acknowledged AIDS. (7/10)

I wasn’t alive during this time, but I have friends who were. And even through their stories I find it unimaginable. To have an entire community fearful, sick, killed, is terrifying.

Especially when that illness is fueling hatred and ignored at the exact same time. (8/10)

But there was some good that came out of the AIDS crisis. A stronger community was built and a movement grew into the recognition we see today. And science found medicine and therapeutics that are literally saving lives. (9/10)

Good will come from the coronavirus. It has to. Especially if we continue to try and do the right thing. And if we think of others as community and not The Other.
(End)