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A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

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Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#21

Post by 6sG2C54md377Rxi »

m0llusk wrote: post #14
6sG2C54md377Rxi wrote: post #3

I don’t understand. > The biggest opponents of doing anything about AIDS, anything at all, were conservatives trumpeting family values. And then later in the article: > The notion of “pregnancy is the only drawback to sex” ended up setting the groundwork for HIV spread amongst the gay community, as there was no need for the use of condoms. Diseases which can be sexually transmitted among humans have existed a lot lon…

The culture told gay men that they were impossible and sex was bad. Gay men discovered on their own that they actually were possible and did in fact exist and when they had sex it was good. So there was a cultural idea that sex being dangerous was created by the church and other large social structures in order to control people. If you were straight and wanted a family, as is the case with many, then this might not…

[flagged]

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#22

Post by alex_young »

Thanks for sharing this.

I don't think I've seen this photo before, but I recognize the scene.

My uncle died from AIDS related causes in 1992. He looked a lot like David at the end.

AIDS is a horrific disease. It's amazing how different outcomes are for people with access to modern treatments.

I didn't know my uncle had AIDS until after his death. At the time, the stigma against people infected by the disease was so great that he moved across the country to live with my family, and they kept his diagnosis a secret until his passing.

I remember traveling with him on a road trip to California when I was 12. It was a great adventure, and I'm really happy we got to do something like that together.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#23

Post by questiondev »

this is why i fear people judging others for their sicknesses. my uncle died of aids in the 90s, it was very upsetting losing him and i remember how horrible the stigmatization was, the thing i heard the most often was, “well they shouldn’t have been messing around” and “shoot them all so we can stop the spread of the virus” and “this is god’s judgement on america”.

there was a lot of fear and hatred towards people in the early days, not everyone but it was a real fear in a lot of people’s minds.

it’s hard for me when i see similar things happening today, i really wish we could approach these rogue viruses in a different way, at least from the public relations perspective. i get the fear part but we gotta realize that these are humans who ended up in a terrible unfortunate situation.

this photo almost made me cry because it hurts me to remember what happened with him.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#24

Post by jjtheblunt »

ABeeSea wrote: post #5
6sG2C54md377Rxi wrote: post #3

I don’t understand. > The biggest opponents of doing anything about AIDS, anything at all, were conservatives trumpeting family values. And then later in the article: > The notion of “pregnancy is the only drawback to sex” ended up setting the groundwork for HIV spread amongst the gay community, as there was no need for the use of condoms. Diseases which can be sexually transmitted among humans have existed a lot lon…

All of the known STDs at the time we’re bacterial and cured with antibiotics. Syphilis was curable for decades. AIDS scared the shit out of everyone because science didn’t know what was going on. Fauci is a damn hero.

>. All of the known STDs...

herpes and human papilloma virus are both viral stds long known.

I was in college then and with recurrent strep (bacterial) treated in infectious diseases at a major hospital in Chicago, where HIV patients were also treated; they (science, doctors) knew what was going on very well, but how to effectively treat it was totally the unknown, to your point.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#25

Post by sh4un »

stan_rogers wrote: post #18
6sG2C54md377Rxi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not questioning the reality of AIDS or its impact. I’m trying to understand the climate and people’s outlook of the time. You’re right: I wasn’t around during that era. I was born in ‘86 in a faraway society that did not see these issues the same way. However, I was taught from a young age that sexual promiscuity lacking precautions was a sure pathway to disease and possibly early death. Was this not common knowl…

Actually getting condoms used to be a highly stigmatized pain in the ass back in the "caveman" days in large swaths of the world (especially in large swaths of the US). You came up in a very different environment.

Not really. You just didn't want everyone knowing you're having sex. Especially in small communities.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#26

Post by david38 »

pstuart wrote: post #6
6sG2C54md377Rxi wrote: post #3

I don’t understand. > The biggest opponents of doing anything about AIDS, anything at all, were conservatives trumpeting family values. And then later in the article: > The notion of “pregnancy is the only drawback to sex” ended up setting the groundwork for HIV spread amongst the gay community, as there was no need for the use of condoms. Diseases which can be sexually transmitted among humans have existed a lot lon…

Were you around when this came about? There was a lot of fear and uncertainty. There was also a strong undercurrent of hate, and that these gay men deserve to die for being "bad". There still is a lot of hate (hat tip to Mitch Hedberg), but it was worse back then. I lost several friends to this disease -- it was, and remains, heartbreaking.

You could theoretically argue that you reap what you sow in regards to gay men having unprotected sex with many partners. Some biblical/moral whatever.

Let us suppose this argument for a minute. Very quickly it wasn’t just gay men, but innocent housewives who those men infected and then babies as well.

For that reason, if for no other reason, research into treatment was necessary. What, you’re going to let someone die because someone else you don’t like dies of the same thing?

The trouble with “god’s punishment” has always been that his punishments have always been rather gangster-esque. That is, lots of peripheral casualties.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#27

Post by q1w2 »

> The biggest opponents of doing anything about AIDS, anything at all, were conservatives trumpeting family values.

Hard to take an article seriously after reading this part.

> The outbreak of HIV and AIDS in the USA was largely due to how the government handled it and the Sexual Revolution that took place from the 1960s to the 1980s.

These sorts of articles playing the blame game without evidence are really part of the problem with modern political dialogue.

Throughout the article, the word "bath house" isn't even mentioned despite being the real reason for the outbreak in the gay community.

Re: A father comforts his son on deathbed. The photo that changed the face of AIDS

#28

Post by brokenmachine »

ABeeSea wrote: post #2

> The biggest opponents of doing anything about AIDS, anything at all, were conservatives trumpeting family values. Reagan’s response to HIV/AIDS should be a shameful memory for all republicans. Mike Pence willfully made the HIV pandemic in Indiana worse. Americans learned nothing and instead history repeated itself.

>Reagan’s response to HIV/AIDS should be a shameful memory for all republicans.

Shame is not a characteristic that republicans are renowned for.

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