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Get the history right.
After Rock Hudson pleaded for the White House to help him get transferred to another hospital, Nancy Reagan personally declined the request.
Nancy Reagan never spoke to him after learning he had HIV.
He died nine weeks later. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/nancy-reagan-turned-down-rock-hudsons-plea-for-help-seven-we
After Rock Hudson pleaded for the White House to help him get transferred to another hospital, Nancy Reagan personally declined the request.
Nancy Reagan never spoke to him after learning he had HIV.
He died nine weeks later. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/nancy-reagan-turned-down-rock-hudsons-plea-for-help-seven-we
It is impossible to exaggerate the Reagan's indifference to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Because we cannot imagine a leader being as callous as the Reagans were, we invent a narrative when none exists.
The Reagans watched thousands of (mostly) gay men died and said and did nothing.
Because we cannot imagine a leader being as callous as the Reagans were, we invent a narrative when none exists.
The Reagans watched thousands of (mostly) gay men died and said and did nothing.
When the HIV/AIDS crisis was just beginning in the early 1980s, the Reagan administration declined to invest resources in it because they viewed it as a legal â not a medical â issue.
Why legal?
Because sodomy was illegal in most states. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/11/nancy-ronald-reagan-aids-crisis-first-lady-legacy
Why legal?
Because sodomy was illegal in most states. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/11/nancy-ronald-reagan-aids-crisis-first-lady-legacy
Neither Nancy nor Ronald Reagan said the word "AIDS" in public until 1987.
It took six years and 20,000+ American deaths for either Reagan to say the word once.
Nancy led a campaign against drugs during the period and was vocal about other issues. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
It took six years and 20,000+ American deaths for either Reagan to say the word once.
Nancy led a campaign against drugs during the period and was vocal about other issues. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
Nancy Reagan started her "Just Say No To Drugs" campaign in 1984.
In 1986, the government forecast there would be 3 to 5 million more cases in the next five years.
Neither Reagan said the word AIDS until the following year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
In 1986, the government forecast there would be 3 to 5 million more cases in the next five years.
Neither Reagan said the word AIDS until the following year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
After Elizabeth Taylor's coworkers started dying, she started raising money for HIV/AIDS research.
She approached the Reagans for support.
They did nothing and contributed no money.
Taylor described their response as "frosty." http://www.vanityfair.com/news/1992/11/elizabeth-taylor-activism-aids
She approached the Reagans for support.
They did nothing and contributed no money.
Taylor described their response as "frosty." http://www.vanityfair.com/news/1992/11/elizabeth-taylor-activism-aids
In his 1986 budget, Ronald Reagan allocated $96.5 million dollars for prison construction due to the crack epidemic.
That is $96.5 million more dollars than his budget allocated to HIV/AIDS research. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
That is $96.5 million more dollars than his budget allocated to HIV/AIDS research. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/on-drugs-nancy-reagan-just-said-no-on-aids-she-said-nothing/2016/03/11/3f9d59e8-e483-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html
The Reagans' reaction is unbelievable because of its depravity.
A famous moment is when Reagan's press secretary mocked gay men for getting sick during a 1982 press briefing.
1,000 people had already died. https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9828348/ronald-reagan-hiv-aids
A famous moment is when Reagan's press secretary mocked gay men for getting sick during a 1982 press briefing.
1,000 people had already died. https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9828348/ronald-reagan-hiv-aids
Remember when Never Trump friends tell you they admire the Regans:
They are telling you they are either OK with or ignorant of mass death of LGBTQ people.
A mass death that was ignored, deflected, and mocked by Nancy Reagan.
They are telling you they are either OK with or ignorant of mass death of LGBTQ people.
A mass death that was ignored, deflected, and mocked by Nancy Reagan.
The legacy of death the Reagan administration oversaw has imapcts today.
Part of why SF took the COVID-19 lockdowns so seriously and why our government sprung to action was because of our recent history with HIV/AIDS.
It is impossible to exaggerate its toll on our city.
Part of why SF took the COVID-19 lockdowns so seriously and why our government sprung to action was because of our recent history with HIV/AIDS.
It is impossible to exaggerate its toll on our city.
There are so many legacies from the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
But one worth highlighting is shame caused by the Reagan's silence.
So many LGBTQ people died utterly alone, without their Reagan-supporting family.
They died alone knowing they would be buried in an unmarked grave.
But one worth highlighting is shame caused by the Reagan's silence.
So many LGBTQ people died utterly alone, without their Reagan-supporting family.
They died alone knowing they would be buried in an unmarked grave.
It isn't just about politics.
You've probably seen this way to ease COVID patients' suffering.
HIV/AIDS patients never got that.
Outside of a few places, early HIV/AIDS patients mostly died utterly alone because doctors refused to come into their rooms. https://in.news.yahoo.com/hand-god-brazilian-nurses-gloves-100000071.html
You've probably seen this way to ease COVID patients' suffering.
HIV/AIDS patients never got that.
Outside of a few places, early HIV/AIDS patients mostly died utterly alone because doctors refused to come into their rooms. https://in.news.yahoo.com/hand-god-brazilian-nurses-gloves-100000071.html
The Reagans didn't cause the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
But their silence caused untold human suffering.
It breaks my heart to imagine all the young people dying scared and alone because Nancy and Ronald Reagan treated this plague like a joke.
But their silence caused untold human suffering.
It breaks my heart to imagine all the young people dying scared and alone because Nancy and Ronald Reagan treated this plague like a joke.
So many people died alone and abandoned by their families that cities around the country have fields of unmarked graves.
New York City's is on Hart Island.
The dead were buried in plastic bags so they could not "contaminate" others. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/nyregion/hart-island-aids-new-york.html
New York City's is on Hart Island.
The dead were buried in plastic bags so they could not "contaminate" others. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/nyregion/hart-island-aids-new-york.html
One of the few legislative acts related to HIV/AIDS undertaken by the Reagan administration was to ban HIV+ people from entering the United States in 1987. https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2006/12/the-hiv-travel-ban/232005/
San Francisco's National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park is one of the few places in the country to offer a place mourn the dead. https://cemeterytravel.com/2014/09/17/cemetery-of-the-week-146-national-aids-memorial-grove/
Nancy and Ronald Reagan were silent.
Their silence caused death.
She is no hero and shame on anyone claiming she is.
Their silence caused death.
She is no hero and shame on anyone claiming she is.
