Sharma,+Vikram

Historical Investigation Vikram Sharma

Part A: Plan of the Investigation

How did the HIV virus create a barrier between the gay community and the rest of society between the years 1980 to 1987? The purpose of the Historical Investigation is to explain how the HIV virus was at first not taken seriously to be dangerous and was how it was joked as to be a “gay plague”. However as the disease spread, the virus soon became an icon to the gay community, and placed a barrier between them and the rest of society between the time period of 1980 and 1987. This question will be enforced with the help of primary and secondary sources, such as a writing by a HIV patient as well as a documentary on the effects of the virus on the gay community. These two sources along with many more will be used to prove that the illness placed basic paranoia and fear into the minds of the people, and thus created obstacle between the two parties.

Plan B: Summary of Evidence

The HIV virus was first discovered around the early 1980’s, at first nothing was known about the virus when it first started to infect homosexual men in California and New York. The cases were very elusive to doctors and scientist; the first patients had infections such as [|Pneumocystis Carinii] and [|Kaposi’s sarcoma], two opportunistic infections that were rarely seen (1). The problem with the HIV virus was that it was not killing the patients itself, but it was merely destroying the patient’s immune system, thus causing opportunistic infections such as PCP and KP to thrive. The virus is said to have first originated in primates in Africa; as indigenous people would hunt the primates the blood and un-sanitized conditions caused the virus to carry over to a new host, humans. The virus can spread many ways, through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk and fluid exchanges during birth (2). Although we know the methods of exchange now, there was very little known about the virus back in the 1980’s. People assumed that it was an illness meant to eradicate the gay community and it only infected homosexuals. It was this unawareness by the people of California and New York that caused the virus to spread as rapidly as it did (3). The virus itself created a barrier between the gay community and the rest of society by putting fear in the minds of many American s. The virus was first known to only infect homosexuals, but as time progressed, the virus infected strait men and women, and even children. It was not only the homosexuals that faced the consequences of the illness; it is estimated to have killed 25 million people since it was first documented in 1981. Out of the number, the virus mainly terminated the lives of homosexuals and hemophiliacs (blood testing at blood banks was irrational at the time) (4). The HIV virus affected the world many ways, including the gay community, the medical community and government agencies such as The Centers for Disease Control. In 1976 the disease most likely came in contact with Americans on the U.S Bicentennial celebration in New York (5). There were reports of sailors coming from different countries from all over the world complaining of strange illnesses that were quite rare at the time. It is now known that most of these men had encountered sexually transmitted diseases and they were creating the start of a pandemic. The gay community was affected by the HIV virus the most as it seemed to infect them due to the lack of safe sex techniques and public bathhouses. It was because of this, the term “gay plague” was given to the disease as it seemed to only infect homosexual men (6). The spread of the HIV outbreak could’ve been slowed down if the medical community had been more reluctant to address the virus as not just a “gay disease” but one that can infect everyone, including men women and children. The community was in ruins, there were arguments on who would get the credit for a common vaccination or identification of the new retro virus rather than how they could find a common method of stopping the transmission. Egos also played a key role in the transmission of the disease; because it was said to be a gay disease, many doctors refused to treat homosexuals who had the illness (7). The FDA also refused to make blood testing mandatory as they did not believe the manner of which the disease was spread and believed that testing the blood for ailments was too expensive to be feasible. Thus, hemophiliacs and people who received blood transfusions encountered the virus (8). The Centers of Disease Control was greatly affected as well by the epidemic. Scrambling to find a solution to the method of transmission of the disease, the agency struggled to understand how this new retro virus operated. As a hypothesis was formulated, many refused to believe that this virus was actually sexually transmitted as well as through bodily fluids (9). It was not until 1987 that Ronald Regan finally addressed the American people of the epidemic as a sexually transmitted disease and means of which to prevent the illness such as safe sex, AIDS education and reduction of public bath houses (10). Although there was quite an amount of friction in the U.S at the time, the discovery of the HIV virus created new advancements in technology; it created universal awareness of diseases transmittable by sexual intercourse and blood transfusions. It also made sanitation a priority when it came to medical procedures and drug use (11). While the HIV virus created difficulty and distrust among many Americans and people all over the world, it also created great advancements in technology and gave an overall understanding of how diverse the world really is.

Part C: Evaluation of Sources

Source 1

Fisher, Mary. //My Name Is Mary//. New York City: Scribner, 1996. Print.

__My Name is Mary__ is an autobiography about the struggles and consequences of the HIV virus. It is an inspirational read that gives a different perspective to my historical investigation. She writes regarding how the virus changed her life and how she overcame the virus and became a successful woman in history. Although the historical investigation is concerning the effects of the HIV virus on the gay community, this autobiography includes information regarding Fischer’s homosexual friend; who was rejected from society for his sexuality and illness. The purpose of her autobiography was focused primarily to show humanity that people with the virus were not different from others without. This source is valuable to this historical investigation because Fisher has encountered the virus herself and has encountered the problems associated with it. This source is however limited because it only covers a woman’s perspective. Being a victim of the HIV virus, Fisher’s autobiography may have been to some extent biased; the illness may have distorted her vision of other perspectives and may have excluded them out.

Source 2

Shilts, Randy. //And the Band Played On//. Roger Spottiswoode. 1993. Film.

//And the Band Played On// is a film about the first encounter of the HIV virus in the world. It is a very touching film that gives the perspective of the gay community and the impact of the HIV virus. The film is the story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the inflicting conflicts between politics and moral standings. It is based off actual people and events and ties in perfectly with my historical investigation. The purpose of this film was to show how the delayed reaction to the virus allowed it to spread all over the world. This source is valuable to our historical investigation because this film is primarily based on the impacts of the virus to the gay community and completely supports my investigation. This source is however limited as it is a commercial film and may have been modified for commercial viewing.

Works Cited Abbott Laboratories. "HIV." //Kaletra//. Abbott, 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. .

Fisher, Mary. //My Name Is Mary//. New York City: Scribner, 1996. Print.

Shilts, Randy. //And the Band Played On//. Roger Spottiswoode. 1993. Film.

Shilts, Randy. //And the Band Played On//. New York City: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Print.

Endnotes

1. Fisher, Mary. //My Name Is Mary//. New York City: Scribner, 1996. Print 2. Abbott Laboratories. "HIV." //Kaletra//. Abbott, 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. 3. Shilts, Randy. //And the Band Played On//. New York City: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Print. 4. Shilts, Randy. //And the Band Played On//. Roger Spottiswoode. 1993. Film. 5. Fisher, Mary 6. Shilts, Randy 7. ibid 8. ibid 9. ibid 10. Shilts, Randy 11. Fisher, Mary