To say that Presidential leadership was lacking would be an understatement. Reagan positively handicapped the fight against AIDS through his simplistic and judgmental approach to sex and drugs.

For example, the infamous ‘Just Say No‘ campaign was very much reflective of Federal drugs policy: ignore the needs of people on drugs and just tell everyone else to stay off them.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programme was developed by Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates in 1983 and rolled out across America. Once again, it’s focus was entirely on telling young people that they shouldn’t take drugs. Despite sustained evidence that showed the failure of this ‘prevention’ programme, it continued to receive Federal funding, to the detriment of more effective, evidence-based programmes.

And just to ensure that those nasty and undeserving drug addicts didn’t get any support, Congress outlawed the use of Federal funds for needle exchange programmes in 1988.

Whilst Reagan never enacted any specifically homophobic legislation such as his soul-mate Margaret Thatcher’s Clause 28, he never really needed to. Homophobia and narrow-minded morality was already entrenched in the American political system. At best he simply allowed that to continue; at worst he actively exploited and enhanced it.

• There is a detailed study of the Reagan adminstration’s response to both LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS in my downloadable book Gay in the 80s. Full details are available here.