The AIDS Panic in America began as a scary rumor in the early 1980s, then erupted into a full scale Sexual 9/11 during the summer of 1985, beginning with AIDS Night in America, starring Rock Hudson.Below is a first-hand account of the AIDS Panic, as told by Count Randolpho de St. Mark Boyd in the blog story: AIDS Monster Movie Marathon:
On July 4, 1981, Americans were celebrating their independence.
Unbeknown to most, the day before, the New York Times had served the world written-notice: on the radar was a grimmer, more gruesome-told-you-so-worst-case-nightmarish-way-to-die-scenario than all the teen horror flicks combined. A thing we would later come to call AIDS.
"After Rock Hudson's shocking announcement, America had full-blown AIDS Panic."
A lot of people didn't take the initial AIDS warnings too seriously, for one reason or another.
Then four years later in 1985, on another July day in America, Rock Hudson admitted he had
AIDS and the so-called Sexual Revolution received its 9/11 wake-up call. After Rock's shocking announcement, America had full-blown AIDS Panic.The AIDS Panic raged like a fire out of control, with waves of pandemonium and mayhem ebbing and flowing, with fumbles and advances by scientists, with awareness and lack thereof, with attention and ignorance, with funding and less funding...
...with news coverage and less news coverage, with meaning in the gay community and very little meaning in the gay community.
The focus and attention coincided with things like: priorities in rich communities, in black communities, in Latino communities, in Washington, in local government, in compassionate humans' hearts and minds."Picture the virus as a great athlete on the basketball court."
The AIDS Panic, Part I, ended circa 1996. Scientists and the FDA unleashed the first protease
inhibitor, the first class of drugs that had a new, more effective strategy in mind against the virus.Picture the virus as a great athlete on the basketball court. We'll call him Magic Jordan Miller.
You can't stop Magic Jordan Miller with what you've got right now; you can only contain him by studying his tendencies and weaknesses and adapting a good defensive strategy to minimize his damage.
The team known as the Scientists released their “magical” new defensive opponent around Christmas, 1995. In 1996, the strategy started to show Santa had delivered.
But it wasn't over. Not by a long shot. As long as Magic Jordan Miller is in the game, you got to defend it and defend it well at each and every opportunity, feel me?
