Vito Russo, gay activist and author of “The Celluloid Closet”, is said to have uttered, “Remember the l esbians and what they did for us,” before he died of AIDS-related complications. He was likely referring to the active roles that queer women played in providing healthcare solutions at the height of the epidemic. We’ve made strides from the days when gay men infected with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination in healthcare. AIDS was known as a “gay cancer” in 1981 and discrimination against infected queers was a socially accepted bias.

Stigma

In the United States being queer wasn’t illegal during that time but the stigma surrounding life as an openly gay man intensified. The contribution of lesbians during this period is one that is often underappreciated. They were arguably the first population that jumped into the front lines of this fight in areas such as hospice care, emotional support, and activism.

Preventative measures like Prep and a more direct approach in safe sex discussions have been instrumental in thwarting new infections almost forty years later. Those that are living with HIV today have a greater chance of living a full and healthy life with medications. But many of the younger generations of queers are unable to fathom the degree of despair and uncertainty that came over our community when the AIDS epidemic exploded. AIDS patients were sometimes left to die painful deaths as the government and medical community brushed off the wider implications. Lesbians were amongst the teams of nurses and doctors that watched as the mainstream largely blamed gay men for AIDS.

“Gay Plague”

Queer women in healthcare roles began to understand that AIDS was a disease that impacts all of us. This became more apparent when heterosexual hemophiliacs and intravenous drug users became infected as well. Ronald Ragan, the President at the time, didn’t mention AIDS publically until 1985 after heterosexuals started dying in larger numbers too. Queer women were among the first who had compassion for those that were suffering. The sexual lifestyle of gay men was blamed for the epidemic. Public inferences that they were deserving of the disease became common. These sentiments manifested as homophobia and misinformation in healthcare settings.

In New York, queer/lesbian organizations such as Act Up gathered to discuss solidarity with gay men infected and at risk of being infected. Marion Banzhaf and Alexis Danzig are two of the women who faced this crisis head-on as participants in Act Up. 1987 was almost a decade into the epidemic with no cure in sight and mounting deaths attributed to AIDS complications. Act Up began to brainstorm ways to battle the infection when society at large was turning its back. Providing clean needles to intravenous users, fighting for medications such as protease inhibitors, for example, were small yet significant ways in which this organization engaged in thoughtful cooperation and prevention.

Activists Rise

Both Banzhaf and Danzig were activists before they began their work with Act Up, but it was their personal connection to the disease that inspired these women to tackle what was being called a gay man’s disease. Banzhaf had forged friendships with gay men who had been part of the civil rights activism of the 60’s and 70’s and then died of AIDS in the early years. Danzig lost her father to AIDS in the late 80’s and mentions that before the AIDS crisis, gay men and lesbian women were seen as separate species almost.

When the crisis hit, there was no choice but to act. Their work with Act Up is a touching reminder that when people are dying, all we have is our community and allies. During those times, we were queers helping each other get through it. This is a community mentality that we should continue to foster, even though it feels like we are largely out of the woods in this area.

“It was never not my battle”

The observation that AIDS was especially detrimental for the poor, sex workers, and people of color made this fight more imperative for Danzig and Banzhaf. You can visit Act Up’s archives and their modern websites.

New York, San Franciso…Utah

New York and San Francisco saw the mobilization of queer women in urban areas that were being hit the hardest by the AIDS crisis. In Utah, where religious communities often shunned individuals who were testing positive and dying of AIDS, the stakes were higher. Even in this region of the country, lesbians were engaging in compassionate care for their gay brothers. The 2018 Logo film, Quiet Heroes, chronicles the story of Kristen Reis MD, and her physician assistant and partner Maggie Snyder. The women talk about the challenges that they faced in providing care to gay men in a region where AIDS was seen as divine retribution for sin.

I’ve watched the teaser for the film and I did get emotional. The film was screened earlier in the year at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered in August on Logo. I’ve sent a message to inquire about when this film might be available for further viewing. I will update this as soon as I hear back.

“Living with AIDS in this country is like living through a war

that’s happening only for those people in the trenches.

.

“Every time a shell explodes you look around

to discover that you’ve lost more of your friends.

But nobody else notices. It isn’t happening to them.”

VITO RUSSO