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If you ever want to talk: My Tumblr ask is always open.
An incredibly important, and often forgotten, part of lgbt history.
on this date in 1981, the new york times printed an article with the headline “rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals.” this headline is historic because it is the first mention of what would become the hiv epidemic. at this time, on this date in 1981, the epidemic didn’t have a name.
even after 36, it is still chilling to read this headline because it is a sobering reminder of all that the world didn’t know about hiv. what caused it? how to treat it? we didn’t know shit! it took three years to identify HIV. three years to find out that it wasn’t cancer. however, in those three years, stigma, blame, and shame didn’t need a name to thrive. many died not even knowing the name of the disease that robbed them of breath and humanity.
this headline is historic because it is the first mention of what would become the hiv epidemic.
36 years later we know so much. we have survived so much. we now have life-saving meds. we now even have PrEP - the pill that helps to prevent hiv infection. this is huge because, in 1981, treatment for any virus was rare, yet alone a virus that was virtually unknown.
we still have work to do. we still have to shift culture and we still have to fight health care and access. we still have to fight to live. but we know so much more now than we did on july 3, 1981.
Oh the L got to love it
CTA Red Line is delayed because I’m sleeping on the tracks in some comfy pajamas
“Yet there was a time when you could walk around London or New York and see these gaunt faces, marked with sarcomas, and everyone you hung out with was dying. The official culture was in denial. Sometimes it was easier to be. I remember seeing Derek Jarman at a play. At that point he was blind. I didn’t want to see him like that. And then my friend was queer-bashed on the way home. Freddie Mercury died. Keith Haring died. Eazy- E from NWA died. Denholm Elliott died. Rock Hudson died. Fela Kuti died. And my uncle who wasn’t famous or even my actual uncle died. One of my friends lost seven people who were all under 30.”
“When trans people are under attack, what do we do? STAND UP, FIGHT BACK!”
ACT UP/NY at the Equality March in Washington, DC, June 11, 2017.
I am here. I will listen. You are not a burden. You are important, and important to me. Please message me. If I don’t respond immediatly it’s not because I don’t want to talk to you or feel like it’s not worth my time, it’s because I am sleeping or at work or don’t have my phone on hand. So please, reach out to me. You’re not alone in this.
Wtf @staff
ask me anything, 10+ healthy poz, update: I found love and I got married.
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