Was aids known as the gay disease
History of AIDS
The HIV Try Arrives
In 1984, researchers finally identified the cause of AIDS—the HIV virus—and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed the first commercial blood test for HIV in 1985.
Today, numerous tests can detect HIV, most of which perform by detecting HIV antibodies. The tests can be done on blood, saliva, or urine, though the blood tests detect HIV sooner after exposure due to higher levels of antibodies.
In 1985, actor Rock Hudson became the first high-profile fatality from AIDS. In fear of HIV making it into blood banks, the FDA also enacted regulations that bar gay men from donating blood. The FDA would revise its rules in 2015 to allow male lover men to give blood if they’ve been celibate for a year, though blood banks routinely try blood for HIV.
By the end of 1985, there were more than 20,000 reported cases of AIDS, with at least one case in every region of the world.
AZT is Developed
In 1987, the first antiretroviral medication for HIV, azidothymidine (AZT), became available.
Numerous other medications for HIV are now available, and are typically used together in what’s known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) or highly active antire
Debunking Common Myths About HIV
Read responses to myths that 'HIV is a gay disease' or a 'death sentence,' and find other important knowledge about getting tested.
Myths about who contracts HIV
MYTH: “HIV is a ‘gay’ or ‘LGBTQ+’ disease.”
REALITY: While rates of HIV are disproportionately higher among members of the LGBTQ+ community, HIV is by no means confined to LGBTQ+ people. Anyone—regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender phrase or other factors—can obtain HIV. Calling HIV a “gay” or “LGBTQ+” disease is medically untrue and only serves to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about people living with HIV and members of the Diverse community.
MYTH: “I am over 50! I don’t want to worry about HIV.”
REALITY: HIV transmission is about behavior; not how senior you are. Moreover, according to the CDC, older Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV at a later stage of the disease.
MYTH: “I am in a monogamous relationship. I don’t have to worry about HIV.”
REALITY: It is still important to get tested for HIV even if you’re in a monogamous relationship. According to the latest estimates, 68 percent of new HIV transmissions among gay and
Looking Back: The AIDS Epidemic
12/15/2018
The emergence of AIDS activism helped bring attention to multiple systems of injustice
by Ashley Latham, SF LGBT Center intern
The AIDS epidemic in San Francisco began in the 1980s with the first documented case occurring in 1981. The disease was found in homosexual men living in major metropolitan areas, such as San Francisco. During the initial discovery of AIDS, it was commonly referred to as GRID (Gay-Related Autoimmune Disease), which worked to build early and eternal associations between homosexuality and AIDS. Once researchers realized the disease was not gay-specific, GRID became known as AIDS.
“From the start of the epidemic, those most affected by HIV/AIDS were among the most stigmatized populations in American society: gay men, injection drug users, and immigrants. The association of the disease with marginalized groups hindered the development of prevention and treatment strategies.” (Why We Fight: Remembering AIDS Activism)
Individuals with AIDS not only struggled to find medical concern and treatments, but also endured the menacing effects of socialized stigma surrounding the disease. Enduring and ultimately surviving
LGBTQ History Month: The prior days of America's AIDS crisis
It was not until the late 1970s when the HIV strain that started the North American pandemic had made its way to the Together States, via Zaire and Haiti. By then, the sexual revolution was in full swing and HIV was spreading silently among gay male populations in large American cities. Men who have sex with men were, and still are, disproportionately impacted by HIV because it transmits much more easily through anal sex than through vaginal sex.
The first official government report on AIDS came on June 5, 1981, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Record , a government bulletin on perplexing disease cases: “In the period October 1980-May 1981, 5 young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for biopsy-confirmed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at 3 different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. Two of the patients died.”
In NBC Nightly News’ first announce on AIDS in June 1982, Robert Bazell reported that “the best assume is some infectious forwarder is causing it.”
In a 1983 appearance on NBC's "Today" show, activist and Homosexual Mens Health Crisis co-founder Larry Kramer asked host Jane Pauley, "Jane, can you imagine
40 years of HIV discovery: the first cases of a mysterious disease in the early 1980s
Since the year of its discovery, HIV has spread from Africa to North America and then to Europe. The first cases were reported in the United States in men who possess sex with men. The following cases concerned transfused patients, hemophiliacs and drug addicts, demonstrating the strong involvement of the blood way in the transmission of the virus. The disease only appeared in Asia around 1986-1987, first in Thailand, then in other Southeast Asian countries.
It should be noted that contrary to well-liked belief, the most important mode of transmission worldwide occurs between heterosexuals. It is estimated that nearly 38 million people are currently infected worldwide.
“AIDS is a late phase of HIV infection,” clarifies Asier Sáez-Cirión, head of the Viral Reservoirs and Immune Control Unit at the Institut Pasteur. “We really need to snap down this lead HIV/AIDS association because it represents an obstacle to the eradication of HIV infection. This is our daily struggle.” Indeed, a person who has AIDS is necessarily a carrier of HIV, but a person who is a carrier of HIV does not necessarily h