# Did HIV/AIDS aid or damage the progress of the LGBT rights movement? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439 "2012-11-09T02:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/41 "2012-11-12T21:27:35Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > It’s a thread about whether AIDS damaged or assisted the cause of LGBT rights in the United States. It’s relevant because AIDS ravaged the gay community while leaving heterosexuals relatively untouched. Heck, the disease was commonly called Gay Related Immune Deficiency until they settled on AIDS. I remember some people referring to it as the gay plague even. > > I was a child in the 1980s. I remember some pretty hostile feelings towards homosexuals because of AIDS. There was a guy on my street with a bumper sticker depicting two men (stick figures) engaged in sex crossed out with the words “Stop AIDS” written next to them. > > I don’t know whether AIDS ultimately helped the civil rights movement for LGBT people. I think it’s an interesting question though. But how does repeatedly saying “AIDS is primarily a gay disease” add to the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/42 "2012-11-12T21:53:13Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Are you assuming all those women were non-monogamous? Actually, I have no idea what your point is. My point is that the women who got HIV got it from intercourse with gay or bisexual men and/or IVDAs. **Waenara** and some others are trying really, really hard to slice and dice the numbers to come up with a third category, that can be used to distract from the fact that AIDS in America is now, has always been, and probably will remain, a disease primarily of gay men and IV drug abusers. > [@](#): > > But how does repeatedly saying “AIDS is primarily a gay disease” add to the thread? Spreading misinformation is always a bad thing, even if it is intended to further someone’s rights. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/43 "2012-11-12T22:09:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My point is that the women who got HIV got it from intercourse with gay or bisexual men and/or IVDAs. **Waenara** and some others are trying really, really hard to slice and dice the numbers to come up with a third category, that can be used to distract from the fact that AIDS in America is now, has always been, and probably will remain, a disease primarily of gay men and IV drug abusers. > Spreading misinformation is always a bad thing, even if it is intended to further someone’s rights. > > Regards, > Shodan But does that make them non-monogamous? Or does it make those women gay men by proxy? What you were disagreeing with was someone saying that anyone can get AIDS. Yes, more gay men get AIDS than any other group, but quite a few people get it from straight sex too. 19% is not an insignificant number in this context. It’s extremely rare for lesbian sex to transmit AIDS, but it’s still true that anyone can get AIDS. It is very unhelpful to act as if that’s not true and, again, I don’t see how it’s relevant to this thread. The question was “did AIDS aid or damage gay rights?” and your response is “AIDS is gay”? 😕 Why? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/44 "2012-11-12T22:18:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > AIDS in America is now, has always been, and probably will remain, a disease primarily of gay men and IV drug abusers. More precisely, it’s a disease primarily of gay men, IV drug abusers, and the people they have sex with. [Nearly one-third of all new AIDS cases are generated by transmission through heterosexual sex.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HIV_cases_by_transmission_category_CDC_2007.svg) > [@Shodan](#): > > Monogamous heterosexuals who do not abuse IV drugs cannot get it. To disagree with your second statement, which is false, is not the same thing as “nitpicking” your first statement, which is basically true but a bit sloppy and misleading in its phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![Atakapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Atakapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atakapa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/45 "2012-11-13T01:24:56Z")
The fact that early HIV victims were overwhelmingly gay males is no doubt precisely why it took so long for the public and government to respond effectively. A major point of Randy Shiltz’s book “And the Band Played On” was that the disease was rather minimized and ignored until the first cases of infections via heterosexual sex and contaminated blood transfusions were reported by the media. The In any case, is it known what percentage of gay males in the US died from HIV? Particularly in “gay meccas” such as San Francisco, Seattle, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439/46 "2012-11-13T20:23:24Z")
When the Producers’ Group first responded to the great loss to theatre from AIDS related deaths by founding a group to raise money to fight the disease, someone asked “Why? Who Cares?” The response “Broadway Cares” became the name of the group. Several months prior, Broadway Equity founded Equity Fights AIDS, the first group to have the word “AIDS” in its name. The groups merged in 1993 to form Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hiv-aids-aid-or-damage-the-progress-of-the-lgbt-rights-movement/640439.md?page=2)