{"id":1947,"date":"2024-10-01T18:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/?p=1947"},"modified":"2025-09-01T18:15:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:15:37","slug":"aids-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/aids-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"AIDS Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The time between when AIDS was first recognized as an epidemic and\u00a0when President Reagan finally publicly acknowledged it was\u00a0approximately four years. When it was first publicly acknowledged by\u00a0the White House staff in 1982, the Press Secretary, Larry Speakes, took\u00a0the opportunity to crack a homophobic gay \u201cjoke\u201d rather than answer the question\u00a0professionally, and asking the reporter, \u201cI don\u2019t have it, do you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"In<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

President Reagan himself did not mention it until 1986, after his friend\u00a0Rock Hudson passed away from the disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incorrect idea that HIV\/AIDS was due to a lifestyle choice severely\u00a0limited the prompt response from a severely homophobic America. In 1984, a\u00a0young boy in Indiana, Ryan White, contracted HIV from a blood\u00a0transfusion \u2013 and was subsequently not allowed to return to his\u00a0school. Even though Ryan was not the first patient to be infected by an\u00a0HIV positive blood transfusion, it wasn\u2019t until 1985 that the FDA\u00a0approved an HIV test for blood. After the FDA approval of the blood\u00a0test, research increased \u2013 and so did public education.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we know so much more about HIV\/AIDS, including important\u00a0points like \u201cyou cannot contract HIV through sharing a straw, using a\u00a0public toilet, getting a mosquito bite,\u201d and the best one: \u201cHIV positive\u00a0people who consistently take their antiretroviral medications and\u00a0maintain an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus to other\u00a0people.\u201d Thanks in large part to the bravery of HIV+ celebrities\u00a0(including basketball star Magic Johnson and Queer Eye star Jonathan\u00a0Van Ness) sharing their personal health history and using their\u00a0platforms to educate the public, HIV\/AIDS is slowly losing its stigma.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s next battle needs to be lowering prescription drug costs.\u00a0HIV antiretroviral medications can cost hundreds-thousands of dollars\u00a0per month currently. This is obviously impossible for the lower income\u00a0and uninsured people who live with the virus. While\u00a0there are some drug programs, including Medicare and\u00a0Medicaid, that offer some assistance, it can be a process\u00a0to apply for these programs and acceptance is not\u00a0guaranteed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a<\/a><\/figure>
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Hope For Ryan White by Dana Moreno <\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt by Rob Sanders<\/h2>\n<\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Reporters<\/a><\/figure>
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The Life and Death of Ryan White: AIDS and Inequality in America by Paul Renfro<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts<\/h2>\n<\/div>
\"A<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/a><\/figure>
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Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic by Richard A. McKay<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The time between when AIDS was first recognized as an epidemic and\u00a0when President Reagan finally publicly acknowledged it was\u00a0approximately four years. When it was first publicly acknowledged by\u00a0the White House staff in 1982, the Press Secretary, Larry Speakes, took\u00a0the opportunity to crack a homophobic gay \u201cjoke\u201d rather than answer the question\u00a0professionally, and asking the reporter,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,51,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lgbtq-history","category-medical-racism","category-topics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1955,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947\/revisions\/1955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theradicalagenda.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}