The HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Public Broadcasting

Epilogue


The HIV/AIDS epidemic is not over. One million people in the U.S. are currently living with HIV, and almost half of those living with HIV are Black. Stigma associated with HIV discourages testing, which has the potential to save lives, and PrEP is not always accessible to those who need it. People with HIV continue to experience discrimination, sometimes even in healthcare spaces. Despite consistent and clear CDC guidance that HIV cannot be spread through casual contact, many Americans are still uncomfortable sharing a living space with someone who is HIV positive.121

Since the 1980s, more than 300,000 gay and bisexual men have died of AIDS in the U.S.122 A generation of gay men was intimately affected by the epidemic; nearly half of gay men older than 35 have lost someone close to them to AIDS.123 The anger, sadness, and grief created by the epidemic has been poured into countless memorial projects and artistic expressions, like film, poetry, and visual art. Some of these artworks, like Marlon Riggs’s Tongues Untied and Robert Hilferty’s Stop the Church, are included in this exhibit.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic radically changed gay activism. When faced with the horrors of the epidemic and stalled governmental and social support, gay and lesbian activists and community organizers worked together to create their own support and activist networks. ACT UP achieved immense success through its direct action strategy, leading to changes in FDA drug approval processes, the addition of gynecological symptoms to the definition of AIDS, and the introduction of parallel tracking trials. ACT UP’s many successes paved the way for further civil rights gains for LGBTQIA+ people in the United States.

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, many people drew comparisons to HIV/AIDS. While both epidemics were politicized and may have been made worse by delayed government responses, these comparisons largely deemphasized the role that homophobia played in the response (or lack thereof) to HIV/AIDS and to society’s rejection of people with AIDS. COVID-19 infection does not carry with it the same level of stigma that HIV infection does, and the COVID-19 mortality rate, 1-4%, is far lower than the HIV mortality rate of 95% when left untreated.124 A useful comparison can be made, though, in the distribution of resources and the demographic breakdown of deaths. Racial minorities have been more likely to die of both COVID-19 and AIDS than white people in the U.S., and access to proper healthcare is essential for positive patient outcomes. HAART has not benefitted racial and ethnic minorities to the same degree that it has benefited white people, and minorities experience disparities in access to care, quality of care, and satisfaction with care.125

The materials featured in this exhibit offer a window into public broadcasting’s response to HIV/AIDS in the deadliest years of the epidemic. At a time when HIV is still highly stigmatized, sodomy laws are being debated,126 and a monkeypox epidemic has seen the resurgence of homophobic rhetoric from the early years of AIDS,127 these programs serve as a reference for anyone interested in learning from the mistakes and successes of public broadcasting’s coverage of a highly politicized epidemic.

Curators

Elizabeth Dinneny

2022 Library of Congress Junior Fellow and English PhD candidate at the University of Maryland

Sonia Prasad

Intern, 2022 Library of Congress Archives, History, and Heritage Advanced Internship (AHHA) program and graduate of Williams College