#how to survive a plague

[your-resident-boat-person]

I need everyone who sees this post to do me a favor. If you are in any way, shape or form a member of the LBGTQIA+ community, know someone who is a member of the community, or are an ally in some way, watch a documentary called "How to Survive a Plague". It's about the aids crisis. It will be one of the most important things you've ever watched.

In college, I had a Queer Theory class, and one of the first things we did was watch this. I was 21 years old at the time. At the time, I was just bisexual, but now I'm also trans. I was SHOCKED that as a member of the community, I had never known how bad it was. If you got diagnosed, you had 2 years to live. That's it. People were in the streets fighting and protesting and LITERALLY using their bodies as weapons. The government ignored the aids crisis on purpose. They were trying to kill us. First, Reagan, then Bush. People think I'm exaggerating when I say it was like a fucking war. If the documentary got their numbers right, and I'm remembering correctly, by 1996, 8 MILLION PEOPLE died from aids. People were dropping left and right. The people that made it have fucking survivors guilt. By the time the documentary came out, an estimated 6 million lives had been saved thanks to the medicine that WE fought for. Someone in the documentary says that he thinks that THAT medicine is the single greatest accomplishment our community can lay claim to, and I'm inclined to agree. This may be wishful thinking, but I think this documentary may be able to knock the exclusionism out of anyone who watches it. These were our brothers and sisters out there, literally dying for this cause. One of my favorite protests that they showed was people lined up outside the White House lawn, dumping the ashes of their loved ones who had died of aids all over the White House lawn. Seeing these frail old women out there who had lost their sons and daughters fighting on the front lines with us makes me violently sob every time I watch this documentary. These grieving mothers were standing with us. The pointless bickering and infighting I see in the community today sickens me. It is important to me that we all know what we fought for. It is important to me that we know how much we lost. It is important to me that we know how hard we fought.

Again, it's called called "How to Survive a Plague". It's on tons of streaming services, many of which are free, and there are "other ways" you can watch it if you catch my drift. I watched it here on Pluto TV, completely free:

It's also available on Tubi, AMC+, PLEX, YouTube, Sling TV, and Amazon prime video.

[queer-media-tourney]

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[nerds-in-wonderland]

🌈History Is Gay Books🌈

How To Survive A Plague

By: David France

"A riveting, powerful telling of the story of the grassroots movement of activists, many of them in a life-or-death struggle, who seized upon scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a manageable disease. Ignored by public officials, religious leaders, and the nation at large, and confronted with shame and hatred, this small group of men and women chose to fight for their right to live by educating themselves and demanding to become full partners in the race for effective treatments. Around the globe, 16 million people are alive today thanks to their efforts.

Not since the publication of Randy Shilts's classic And the Band Played On has a book measured the AIDS plague in such brutally human, intimate, and soaring terms.

In dramatic fashion, we witness the founding of ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group), and the rise of an underground drug market in opposition to the prohibitively expensive (and sometimes toxic) AZT. We watch as these activists learn to become their own researchers, lobbyists, drug smugglers, and clinicians, establishing their own newspapers, research journals, and laboratories, and as they go on to force reform in the nation s disease-fighting agencies.

With his unparalleled access to this community David France illuminates the lives of extraordinary characters, including the closeted Wall Street trader-turned-activist, the high school dropout who found purpose battling pharmaceutical giants in New York, the South African physician who helped establish the first officially recognized buyers club at the height of the epidemic, and the public relations executive fighting to save his own life for the sake of his young daughter.

Expansive yet richly detailed, this is an insider's account of a pivotal moment in the history of American civil rights. Powerful, heart-wrenching, and finally exhilarating, How to Survive a Plague is destined to become an essential part of the literature of AIDS."

~Alice 🌌

[hereslookingatyousquid]

More people need to watch How To Survive a Plague because the history of the fight against AIDS is already being distorted and taken out of context. Those "white gays" were out there every day fighting for their lives and fighting for the lives of everyone impacted by the disease. That history will not be erased.

[daltongraham]

Watched this this weekend as my way of celebrating Pride. It's a documentary about ACT-UP. I didn't know much about them, although I lived through the AIDS era and was involved with another AIDS support organization. I recommend it, especially to younger queers who didn't have to live through that hell.

[iamonlyhereforthefreefood]

I finally watched How to Survive a Plague, it was heartbreaking but I highly recommend. 

[onebluebookworm]

June 2022 Book Club Picks

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: Dorian Gray is young, beautiful, and innocent - the perfect subject for portrait artist Basil Hallward to capture on the canvas. Basil’s acquaintance Lord Henry Wotton agrees, but laments the cruelty of Dorian losing his beauty and vitality to the ravages of age, while his portrait remains unchanged. Dorian, influenced by Lord Henry’s hedonistic worldview, utters a terrible wish - if only his portrait could age instead. As Dorian descends further into selfish sin, his portrait continues to twist, a hideous reflection of his crimes.

Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Baker: The relatively new field of queer theory can often seem vast and unapproachable to the uninitiated. Through this comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide, scholar Meg-John Baker and cartoonist Julia Scheele aim to demystify the many tenants and schools of thought, from Kinsey and Butler’s early groundwork theories to more modern, inclusive takes.

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo: Traces the history and social implications of homosexuality portrayed on film, from the Pansy Craze and sissy characters of early film, to the various backlashes homosexuality in film has faced, to the multitude of censorship attempts to keep gay representation off the screen.

How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Scientists Tames AIDS by David France: Part history, part social commentary, part memoir, and part political manifesto, David France minutely tracks the full course of the American AIDS epidemic, to the culture wars of the early years, to the fight for life in the later years. Heartbreaking in many place; you will bawl like a baby.

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kristen Cronin-Mills: Gabe is like a record - he has an A side that everyone knows, and a B side, which isn’t as well known, but just as good. His A side is Elizabeth, assigned female at birth and part of a family that isn’t quite ready to accept the truth, that he’s a boy and always has been. But at night, on his radio show, Gabe lets his B side play free and loud. And when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along, Gabe has to choose whether he’s ready to let everyone hear his B side.

[now-watching]

Recommendations 11-15:

11. YOU GOT TO MOVE (1985), dir. Lucy Massie Phenix, Veronica Selver

“A documentary that follows people from communities in the Southern United States in their various processes of becoming involved in social change.”

Availability: Possibly available on Kanopy and also available for rental via KinoNow

12. WEST SIDE STORY (1961), dir. Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins

“THE SCREEN ACHIEVES ONE OF THE GREAT ENTERTAINMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF MOTION PICTURES

In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of [White] teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to “own” the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two kids, one from each rival gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.”

Availability: Available with subscriptions to HBO Max and Hulu. Also available for rental on YouTube, Google Play, AppleTV, VUDU, and Amazon

13. Malcolm X (1992), dir. Spike Lee

“A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.”

Availability: Available for free on TubiTV and for rental via Google Play, VUDU, YouTube, AppleTV, and Amazon

14. THE CANDIDATE (1972), dir. Michael Ritchie

“TOO HANDSOME. TOO YOUNG. TOO LIBERAL. DOESN’T HAVE A CHANCE. HE’S PERFECT!

Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.”

Availability: Available for rental on YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon, GooglePlay, and VUDU

15. HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (2012), dir. David France

“A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.”

Availability: Possibly available on Kanopy, available with a subscription on HBO Max, and for rental on YouTube, AppleTV, GooglePlay, and Amazon 

[The American Experience Film Recs]

[meathookcinema]

My Top 10 Documentaries Of All Time

My Top 10 Documentaries Of All Time

Out of all of the cinematic genres, I’d say apart from horror, that of the documentary is my favourite. A fantastic true story told brilliantly is worth it’s weight in gold. Which leads us onto my Top 10 favourite documentaries of all time. Hold onto your hats- these aren’t your average examples of the genre… 10. Long Shot Juan Catalan is convicted of a drive-by shooting even though he was at a…

[youworeflowersinyourhair]

Oh I’m also reading How to Survive a Plague. Many thoughts and emotions but truly the queer community has always been Like This

[kristenswig]

#255. How to Survive a Plague - David France

[ruporas]

can’t help falling for you

[uncanny-tranny]

So much love and recognition to the people who don't know how they feel about recovering. To the people whose scars are fading away, and there's a sinking feeling, despite knowing that it's a good thing. To the people who miss when they were "worse," when they felt "broken." To the people who mourn losing their coping mechanisms, even the ones that were destructive, scary, or unpleasant. To those who feel guilty they're healing because their past self wasn't ready.

Whatever it is, there is nothing wrong with any of those feelings. It's a natural reaction, something you don't have ultimate control over. There is nothing shameful about yourself, and I admire the strength it takes to recognize how you feel, even the parts that do feel like the "wrong" reaction to a Good Thing.

[selenealwayscries]

Day 4: Iconic look (FUCKIM MAIDAPH............)

every day I am plagued by the knowledge of maidaphs existence . why is it official merch what is wrong with him /zedaph stan

[stiltonbasket]

absolutely love the wrh raises wwx au! is there a reason that the sunshot campaign is happening so many years later than canon in this au? did wwx play any role in delaying the start of the war?

Yes! It's my personal headcanon that novel!Wen Ruohan only started the war because he realized that his own sons were nowhere near as talented as Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, etc; but in this verse, Wen Ruohan postponed the start of the war because he had Wei Wuxian.

As in canon, Wen Ruohan destabilized the Nie sect several years before Wangxian met by murdering Nie Mingjue's father, and Lan Xichen never stood out as a threat because he dropped out of the competitive cultivation circuit to raise Jingyi when he was only 23. Lan Wangji stopped attending tournaments the same year LXC did, so Wen Ruohan paid very little attention to the Lan sect until he stumbled across Jingyi night-hunting with Jin Ling about fifteen years later.

At that point, Wen Ruohan was reasonably confident that Wen Xu would be a decent successor; but Wen Xu and his wife had three daughters and refused to keep trying for a son, and Wen Chao had been unable to father any children despite having a wife and several mistresses. What was worse (to WRH) was that Wei Wuxian was unmarried—under Wen Ruohan's own orders—and had no heirs other than Sizhui, who was categorically incapable of fighting anything but fierce corpses/yaoguai because he was terrified of injuring or killing another person. As a result, Wen Ruohan finally attacked the Cloud Recesses when Sizhui was about 17.