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At the 1988 Global Summit on AIDS, Princess Anne, in her opening remarks, speaking in the midst of a pandemic that was claiming thousands of UK lives said this:
Anne's remarks were not the worst of the time, just the highest profile.
The Chief Constable of Manchester described AIDS as 'a cesspit of [our] own making'.
Numerous clerics from different faiths called it 'The Wrath of God' or 'The Wages of Sin'.
The Chief Constable of Manchester described AIDS as 'a cesspit of [our] own making'.
Numerous clerics from different faiths called it 'The Wrath of God' or 'The Wages of Sin'.
The Association of British Insurers demanded HIV tests for men applying for life insurance over ÂŁ50,000, with the intent of denying policies to those testing positive.
Various local councillors sought to ban gay men from sports facilities, including swimming baths.
Various local councillors sought to ban gay men from sports facilities, including swimming baths.
The Football Association sought to prohibit players from sharing a communal bath after matches.
Punitive approaches were regularly advocated by rent-a-gob backbenchers in the popular press, citing Cuban quarantines for gay men and parallel calls from US Senator Jesse Helms.
Punitive approaches were regularly advocated by rent-a-gob backbenchers in the popular press, citing Cuban quarantines for gay men and parallel calls from US Senator Jesse Helms.
A popular 'joke' from those times went, 'What does GAY stand for?'
Got AIDS Yet?
Ha fucking ha.
Got AIDS Yet?
Ha fucking ha.
Police raided gay bars wearing rubber gloves, despite Princess Diana's high profile gloveless embrace of AIDS patients at Britain's first ward, at the Middlesex.
People lost their jobs in intimate care settings. Others were physically shunned.
People lost their jobs in intimate care settings. Others were physically shunned.
Neither people with AIDS nor gay men enjoyed specific legal protections, a fact which employers and businesses alike exploited.
And people were dying, in thousands. There was no cure and the anti-retrovirals were slow to arrive, slower to develop.
And people were dying, in thousands. There was no cure and the anti-retrovirals were slow to arrive, slower to develop.
I cried for friends, for acquaintances, for celebrities, for unknown strangers.
And I was terrified, for myself, the whole time.
Those were my late teens and early twenties.
And I was terrified, for myself, the whole time.
Those were my late teens and early twenties.
I wasn't inactive.
From three elected positions, I spearheaded an awareness and education campaign among a key demographic, students in London (when I learned the importance of direct, honest language), working with THT, BP and PW.
I met with Ministers and officials.
From three elected positions, I spearheaded an awareness and education campaign among a key demographic, students in London (when I learned the importance of direct, honest language), working with THT, BP and PW.
I met with Ministers and officials.
Enduring their distaste and disapproval to press the case.
With research pioneers at the Middlesex, I drafted and steered the first British Universities' adoption of a non-discrimination code of practise for HIV positive staff and students through all the UoL Senate Committees.
With research pioneers at the Middlesex, I drafted and steered the first British Universities' adoption of a non-discrimination code of practise for HIV positive staff and students through all the UoL Senate Committees.
@OwenJones84 and @mcashmanCBE in a disgraceful and lazy analogy want you to think I'm now singing from the same hymn sheet as the 1980s homophobes, that - in Cashman's words - I learned nothing or in Jones' - that I think this gives me a lifetime pass.
F@ck off.
F@ck off.
This isn't the same. Not at all.
I'm not calling for quarantine, dismissal from employment, or discrimination. And there's no cull.
I'm saying people don't change sex, women have rights and this conflict needs a carefully calibrated resolution.
I'm not calling for quarantine, dismissal from employment, or discrimination. And there's no cull.
I'm saying people don't change sex, women have rights and this conflict needs a carefully calibrated resolution.
And so are all the people I associate with.
All the hyperbolic name calling in the world isn't going to change that.
Keep telling yourselves we are all punching down on trans people. We are all religious zealots. Right wing funded bigots.
Truth will out.
All the hyperbolic name calling in the world isn't going to change that.
Keep telling yourselves we are all punching down on trans people. We are all religious zealots. Right wing funded bigots.
Truth will out.
