The Reagan Years: 1980s: AIDS Strikes Gay Rights Movement

Marchers at San Francisco's Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade carry signs for the Stop AIDS Project. June 29, 1986. Roger Sandler, photographer. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Tribune Collection. Gift of ANG Newspapers.

The Stop AIDS Project was originally founded in 1984 to reduce HIV transmission during the AIDS epidemic. In 1984, following a rancorous debate between community members and government officials, Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mervyn Silverman shut down San Francisco's public bathhouses to stop unsafe sexual practices.

But one man, Larry Bye, was inspired by the impact focus groups could have in shaping public opinion. As a result, he founded the Stop AIDS Project to educate the public about safe sex practices and distribute tools (such as condoms, brochures, posters, and educational videos) to ensure its adoption.

Books

  • And the Band Played On, by Randy Shiltz
  • We Must Love One Another or Die: The Life and Legacies of Larry Kramer, edited by Lawrence D. Mass
  • Gay By the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area by Susan Stryker and Jim Van Buskirk

Internet Links