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While the public’s understanding of the AIDS epidemic has progressed significantly, with understandable cause, many cannot let go of the hurt that was caused by the dismissal of the disease. In a recent short film titled, When AIDS Was Funny, filmmaker Scott Colonico documents the inhumane and cruel lengths the Reagan Administration went to in order to deny the AIDS epidemic.

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The last stage of AIDS acceptance is “complacency.” The original VH1 timeframe for complacency beings in 1997 and ends in 2004, when the idea was formed. I would argue that today, in 2017, we are still in the complacent phase. In November 2011, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton shared the U.S. government’s vision of creating an AIDS-free generation. While AIDS is virtually a nonissue in the United States, there are many countries in Africa that remain severely effected. In 2006, (RED) was founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to harness the power of people and companies to help fight AIDS. To date, (RED) has generated more that $465 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. While this campaign and others like it are extremely effective, the sense of urgency is gone for Americans. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, Americans were determined to support each other. Now, that AIDS is not as prevalent on our continent, we are not as passionate about the cause.

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As the “mainstream” phase entered the late 90s, AIDS was fully submerged in the mainstream culture. In 1994, Jonathan Larson’s Broadway musical, RENT revolved around an array of artists and performers living in New York’s Alphabet City neighborhood. RENT was one of the first popular culture works to portray straight white people with AIDS, as well as straight, white people as sympathetic allies in the fight against AIDS. RENT not only transformed Broadway due to its innovative sound, but it also reimagined Broadway’s ability to discuss real, unorthodox topics. Reality TV was also able to portray “real” Americans suffering with AIDS. Pedro Zamora, an openly gay Cuban immigrant with HIV, appeared on The Real World’s third season and quickly became one of its most beloved characters. Before they moved into the house for filming, the castmembers were informed that they would be living with an HIV-positive housemate. Zamora revealed in the earliest stages of the show that he was the one with AIDS. At the age of 22 and within hours of the season finale’s broadcast, Zamora died following AIDS-related complications. Zamora’s death had a large impact on The Real World’s young, teen audience. 

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On the border between the “activism” and “mainstream” stages lie the film Philadelphia and the play Angels in America. Both of these productions, released in 1993, focus on characters living with AIDS. Each production captures different views to the many facets of living with AIDS. Both Philadelphia and Angels in America received critical acclaim. In Philadelphia, Tom Hanks received his first Best Actor Academy Award for portraying Andrew Beckett, a lawyer diagnosed with AIDS who is recently fired from his corporate law firm. Playwright, Tony Kushner, earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with his play Angels in America.

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As we exit the “activism” phase and enter the “mainstream” phase (1994-1997), the activist ideas presented in the in the early 90s now become hallmark facets of pop culture. Whereas merely a decade prior it was uncouth and dangerous to discuss AIDS, now it is within the realm of popular culture. Organizations such as ACT UP with its incendiary marketing campaigns potentially transition from a closely-knit subculture to a more accepted popular culture.

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While Paris Is Burning certainly brought light and attention to the “ball circuit” of New York City, one can argue that the movie used the drag queens as nothing more than props. Each of these queens is struggling to survive financially, with many of them suffering from AIDS. Paris Is Burning made $3,779,620 at the box office. After production, several of the queens decided to sue the production company for a larger compensation for their salaries. The lawsuit went nowhere. The salary for the thirteen participants was $55,000 split equally among all thirteen stars. Only after they were forced to drop their lawsuit were the queens paid $4200 each. In 1990, when the movie was released, $4200 was not enough to buy a one-year supply of AZT.

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Released during the height of the “activism” phase, Paris Is Burning recounts the lives of several drag queens and their “families” in New York City. Through the film, we saw the effects of the AIDS epidemic on the gay community during the 1990s. Nearly all of the drag queens presented in Paris is Burning died of AIDS complications by 2006, sixteen years after the film was released. Many did not even survive past 1993. In the New York Times article “Paris Has Burned,” we visit the queens once more, opening at the 1993 memorial service for Angie Xtravaganza. Xtravaganza died in August 1993 of AIDS-related liver disease. Shortly after the film was released, Kim Pendavis died of a heart attack at the age of 20. The article goes on to mention that of the nine featured personalities in the film, five are “gone or going.” In his sorrow, Hector Xtravaganza best describes the sentiments of the gay community decimated by the AIDS epidemic, “It’s not just her [Angie], it’s all of them. My entire gay childhood is disintegrating before my eyes.”

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Throughout the “activism” era (1990-1994), Americans and other global influencers embraced the fight against the AIDS epidemic. In August 1990, U.S. Congress passed the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990. This act provided $220.5 million in Federal funds for HIV community-based care and treatment services. The bill carried the name of the young, AIDS afflicted, Indiana teen who became a prominent spokesman for AIDS assistance. As we move through the 90s organizations such as ACT UP maintain their vocal stances in the fight against AIDS. Public figures such as Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana supported activism for those afflicted with AIDS. In the United Kingdom, Princess Diana helped to drastically changed attitudes towards AIDS. As a trailblazer for activism in April 1987, Princess Diana opened the UK's first HIV/AIDS unit that exclusively cared for patients infected with the virus, at London Middlesex Hospital. In front of the world's media, Princess Diana shook the hand of a man suffering with the illness. She did so without gloves, publicly challenging the notion that HIV/AIDS was passed from person to person by touch.

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From 1985 to 1990, Americans entered the “fear” stage. As more heterosexual, non-drug-addicted individuals became infected, fear spread through the hearts and minds of Americans. As the threat of AIDS became more imminent, the average American’s fear spread into popular culture and media. Stories of heterosexual individuals affected by AIDS, such as Ryan White and the Ray brothers, entered the media. In 1985, the television movie, An Early Frost, debuted on NBC. The story follows Michael Pierson, a young lawyer who is coming to terms with his homosexuality. However, when Michael discovers he has AIDS and is dying of complications from the disease, he must open up to his parents and the rest of his family about his sexuality and his disease. An Early Frost helped to shed light on the emotional toll AIDS has not only on the inflicted, but also on his or her loved ones.

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The first stage we can easily recognize is the “silence” stage. From 1980 to 1985 pop culture remained shockingly silent in regards to the AIDS epidemic. Following the lead of the Reagan administration, popular culture ignored AIDS as a “gay plague.” To the average American, AIDS was not a disease that concerned them. The only news of the AIDS epidemic was not coming from those afflicted, but from science. As scientists worked to determine what was happening to these individuals, the focus remained on the physical side effects of the disease, not the emotional impacts of the individuals.

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5 Stages of American Acceptance of AIDS

Similar to the five emotional stages of grief, in 2004, VH1 suggested that pop culture in America dealt with the arrival of HIV/AIDS in five stages: silence (1980-1985), fear (1985-1990), activism (1990-1994), mainstreaming (1994-1997), and complacency (1997-??). While these stages were certainly unclear in the moment, looking back the shifts in public sentiment are evident.

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In 1989, there was only one federally approved antiviral AIDS drug, AZT. By being the only company to manufacture an AIDS drug, Burrough-Wellcome held a monopoly on the price of their antidote. When the drug was first manufactured, AZT was selling for $10,000 for a one-year supply. By 1989, Wellcome lowered their price to $8,000, only when threatened with congressional inquiry. Even at $8,000, AZT was the most expensive drug ever sold on the market. For those suffering from HIV/AIDS that could afford the medicine, it depleted their health insurance quickly. For many people in need of the life-saving drug, they could not afford it. Throughout the 1980s people with AIDS were forced to leave their jobs for fear of others discovering their illness or because the company feared the spread of the disease. In losing their jobs, they also lost their health insurance, thus they were unable to pay for AZT. For those with health insurance, many policies did not cover the expensive treatments. By pricing the life-sustaining medicine at record-breaking prices, Wellcome discriminated against those who could even consider being able to afford the drug. In 1990, while only 10% of GMHC clients were Medicaid eligible when they first contacted GMHC, with 1 year, nearly 60% became eligible. AIDS activist group, ACT UP, took it upon themselves to hold Wellcome, as well as the U.S. government liable for the exorbitant prices of AZT. Through relentless protests and boycotts, ACT UP was able to lower the price of AZT to $6,400 a year.

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With the public’s separation of AIDS patients into two categories: men having intercourse with men and intravenous drug users, women and children were not accounted for. In many early Center for Disease Control AIDS studies, women were excluded from the research under the assumption that they did not have AIDS. This incorrect conclusion led many women to believe they were not infected, when in fact they were. In the early stages of AIDS research, the only women thought to have AIDS were prostitutes. Women who were not aware of their condition also possessed the risk of passing the disease to their children, thus further spreading AIDS. In 1987, women were excluded from the initial HIV trials, unless they were on the birth control pill or IUD. No childcare, transportation, or GYN care was available during the trials. In 1988, through severe public misinformation, a Cosmopolitan magazine article titled "Reassuring News About AIDS: A Doctor Tells Why You May Not Be At Risk" tells women that they can have unprotected vaginal intercourse with an HIV-positive man if they have healthy vaginas. The article also reports that "most heterosexuals are not at risk," and further states that it is impossible to transmit HIV using the "missionary position." Through their marginalization during experimental trials and the perceived notion that they were “safe” from AIDS, women were named fastest growing population with HIV in 1988. On a global level, it is estimated that 3 million women were infected with AIDS in 1988.

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On September 17, 1985, four years after the disease was discovered in the United States, President Ronald Reagan mentioned AIDS publicly for the first time. In a letter to Congress, President Reagan vowed to make AIDS a priority of his administration. 12,529 Americans had already died of the disease, and at least one HIV case has been reported from each region of the world. According to President Reagan’s physician, ‘“President Ronald Reagan did not grasp the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic until he learned that the actor Rock Hudson had the disease in 1985.”’ Cited in a New York Times article from 1989, the physician goes on to state ‘“He accepted it like it was measles and it would go away.”’ Like much of the general public, President Reagan did not realize how serious the epidemic was until July 1985 when Rock Hudson was diagnosed.

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In 1983, 2,304 Americans had died as a result of AIDS. By 1985, 15,527 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS and 12,529 Americans had died. Even with these rapidly increasing death rates, the American public viewed the disease as a problem among homosexual men and drug addicts sharing intravenous needles. In a June 1983, New York Times article, Edward Brandt, the top Federal health official, discusses the impact of AIDS as, ‘“spread almost entirely through sexual contact, through the sharing of needles by drug abusers and, less commonly, through blood or blood products.”’ This relaxed sentiment regarding the severity and reality of AIDS was even shared by the Reagan Administration. However by 1985, the public, as well as the Administration’s sentiments regarding AIDS began to shift. With the heroes such as Rock Hudson and Ryan White falling victim to AIDS, public perception surrounding AIDS had changed. The AIDS epidemic was no longer a disease for the “dirty” drug addicts and homosexual men who deserved this punishment for their vile actions. AIDS could now effect the “innocent;” those who had “done nothing wrong.” Through the infliction of “average American” AIDS shifted from a disease of the “other” to an American epidemic.

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By 1985, however, the public sentiment of the disease had changed drastically. On October 2, 1985, Hollywood-heartthrob Rock Hudson died of AIDS-related complications. Know for his brawny masculinity, Hudson was on the opposite end of the “sexuality spectrum” as his companions suffering from the “gay plague.” After his passing, Hudson left $250,000 to help begin the American Foundation for AIDS research (amfAR). Hudson’s close friend, Elizabeth Taylor, served as the founding National Chairman. In the same year, 13-year-old Ryan White was refused entry to his Indiana middle school after contracting AIDS through contaminated blood products used to treat his hemophilia. With Hudson and 13-year-old White contracting to AIDS, the disease could no longer be justified as a “gay issue.”

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As the number of people with AIDS increased, support groups began forming primarily in the cities that were the most affected, such as New York City and San Francisco. In 1983, in response to concerns about transmission of AIDS, the CDC identified all major routes of HIV transmission, ruling out transmission by casual contact, food, water, air, or environmental surfaces. However, in 1983, even though the CDC has made their transmission facts clear, a New York doctor was threatened with eviction from his building for treating AIDS patients. With the help of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), they were able to file the first AIDS discrimination lawsuit. While the CDC had published and debunked common misconceptions about the transmission of HIV/AIDS, the general public still feared the disease. The public viewed those with AIDS as “others;” individuals who were meant to hide in shame and not seek treatment for their disease.