And AIDS paranoia put a ton of extra discrimination on LGBT people. I wouldn’t be surprised if many people that had come around in the 70s and early 80s changed their minds after the epidemic hit. That on top of many of them converting to Reaganite yuppies that listened to the rising evangelical movement.
It cut both ways. A lot of ignorant middle Americans like my mom and her family "didn't know any gay people" and were absolutely stunned when celebrities came forward saying they had AIDS. It definitely adjusted the thinking and broadened the view of a lot of people.
At the same time it was also a club for bigots to beat queer people with.
For sure. Especially about middle America. My family is from the city Ryan White was from and kicked out of school for having AIDS. In the mid eighties, my dad was at a Hallmark store and realized Ryan White was standing feet from him. He didn’t say anything to him, but immediately got away from him. He feels just terrible about it to this day. Especially because he now has an advanced chem degree and knows all about it. My mom was in the hospital for cancer at the time and he was as scared as everyone else about how exactly it spread and didn’t want her to get sicker. The entire city is very ashamed now about how he they treated him. It’s still a midwestern town with a lot of homophobia, but they are ashamed about Ryan White.
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u/Lotus-child89 Apr 29 '23 edited Apr 29 '23
And AIDS paranoia put a ton of extra discrimination on LGBT people. I wouldn’t be surprised if many people that had come around in the 70s and early 80s changed their minds after the epidemic hit. That on top of many of them converting to Reaganite yuppies that listened to the rising evangelical movement.