HomeHIV/AIDS1984-85. Media: AIDS and the British Press

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1984-85. Media: AIDS and the British Press — 5 Comments

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  2. I remember this period well. The headlines that caused so much distress to so many and if I recall correctly it wasn’t just the gutter press but “serious” newspapers that ran sensational headlines like “God’s wrath””, “gay plague”, “cesspool of their own making”. Do you remember James Anderson from Manchester? His vitriol received headline coverage and lives were threatened and lost because of his words. That was the first and only time I wrote to the press in rambling length to object to their fatally damning coverage. What was going on in my mind? Pure disbelief referenced with study of of decadent eras in history classes, think Rome, but also this nagging toxic doubt,, possibly due to an inferiority complex, that wondered that I was a sinner, maybe it was God’s wrath, maybe I deserved to die. Long or short I think this played on the ninds of many, both in and out if their closet. What did I do, I talked to God, meditated on “IS THIS REALLY YOUR WRATH?” Believe me I was not a God-talker, I was baptized twice (COE and Orthodox), mixed parents, I lit the odd candle but was not a church goer and veered towards spirituality in the comfort of books like “Out On A Limb” by Shirley MacLaine. I don’t recall exactly but it seems like for many hours, if not a couple of days I wrestled for what I really believed was true – but I went so deep on it, on a cosmic level removed from my own insecurities, my personal gay homo phobias and all the baggage I’d absorbed as a child that challenged my identity to the core. You know what my last comment was in this search for truth, something like “I’d rather die if I cannot kiss a man again”! I was free of the. Brainwash because I went within. Ok, that’s the end if my rant and possibly no one will read it because I see only one comment noted. But thank you for chronicling your experience, a google search about when those headlines occurred brought me to you. The press of the time really has a lot of innocent deaths to account for, more than we know.

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  5. Pingback:The misguided myth of Patient Zero – Gay in the 80s

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