They Died of Red Tape
I came across a story about the early days of Aids, in the 70s and 80s. How it got to be as bad as it is now, even though we could have prevented it, maybe even completely eliminating the virus.
In the US and France, the disease first surfaced among the gay community. The Centre of Disease Control in the US tried to detect and learn about the virus. The thing is, their hands were pretty much tied because government funding to study the disease amounted to chicken feed. Aids was formerly referred to as the Gay Pneumonia by the righteous and religous bigots who thought God was on their side.The gay stigma reached a whole new level. Tensions worsened when CDC recommended that bath places ( a pool where homosexuals go to meet and have casual sex) be closed for fear of spreading the disease. Of course, the gays revolted. Another dead end.
Who actually found the virus is still a controversial issue today. Some say it was the French, but a US doctor stole the credit. But heres is the cold truth : had the government and the society paid more attention to the disease rather than dismissing it as a proper punishment for gays, the disease might have been curbed. The chances are we would not have an epidemic on our hands today.
The first time President Reagan even mentioned the word Aids in his speech, 250, 000 Americans were already infected with it. There is this gay Aids patient who summed it up the problem perfectly when he said " I just dont want it read in my epitaph ' He died of red tape' ". Of course, he too died.
In the US and France, the disease first surfaced among the gay community. The Centre of Disease Control in the US tried to detect and learn about the virus. The thing is, their hands were pretty much tied because government funding to study the disease amounted to chicken feed. Aids was formerly referred to as the Gay Pneumonia by the righteous and religous bigots who thought God was on their side.The gay stigma reached a whole new level. Tensions worsened when CDC recommended that bath places ( a pool where homosexuals go to meet and have casual sex) be closed for fear of spreading the disease. Of course, the gays revolted. Another dead end.
Who actually found the virus is still a controversial issue today. Some say it was the French, but a US doctor stole the credit. But heres is the cold truth : had the government and the society paid more attention to the disease rather than dismissing it as a proper punishment for gays, the disease might have been curbed. The chances are we would not have an epidemic on our hands today.
The first time President Reagan even mentioned the word Aids in his speech, 250, 000 Americans were already infected with it. There is this gay Aids patient who summed it up the problem perfectly when he said " I just dont want it read in my epitaph ' He died of red tape' ". Of course, he too died.
posted by Nashenee at 7:28 PM
2 Comments:
Oh my god, this thing is fucking long! There's no way anyone's gonna read this! I know you hate us all, but please try to ease the torment by shortening the boring unimportant material you post.
aww, come on, it wasnt that long. Honest to god, i tried to keep it short, but there was jus so much to say. Maybe you didnt read it, but hopefully others did. I was moved by the story so forgive me for wanting to share it with the rest.
Anyway, if it really did torture you, than thats just icing on the cake, dude.
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