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The Gay Men's Health Crisis
HIV/AIDS Timeline |
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| 1981 |
The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
report an alarming occurrence of a rare cancer (Kaposi's sarcoma)
in otherwise healthy gay men. They first call the disease "gay
cancer" but soon rename it GRID ("gay-related immune deficiency").
The New York Times announces a "Rare
Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals."
Eighty men gather in New York writer Larry Kramer's apartment to
address the "gay cancer" and to raise money for research.
This informal meeting provides the foundation for what will
soon become Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC).
The CDC declares the new disease an epidemic. |
| 1982 |
Nathan Fain, Larry Kramer, Larry Mass, Paul Popham,
Paul Rapoport, and Edmund White officially establish GMHC.
An answering machine in the home of GMHC volunteer Rodger McFarlane
(who will become GMHC's first paid director) acts as the world's
first AIDS hotline - it receives over 100 calls the first night.
GMHC holds its second AIDS fundraiser, "Showers," at
Paradise Garage (the first was an unsuccessful effort on the dock
of the Fire Island Pines), raising $50,000.
GMHC produces and distributes 50,000 free copies of its first newsletter
to doctors, hospitals, clinics, and the Library of Congress.
GMHC opens its first office on West 22nd Street.
GMHC creates the landmark Buddy Program to assist PWAs (persons
with AIDS) with their day-to-day needs.
A GMHC Buddy visits a client at home.
The CDC changes the name of the illness called GRID or "gay
cancer" to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The
CDC defines
a case of AIDS "as a disease, at least moderately predictive
of a defect in cell-mediated immunity, occurring in a person with
no known cause for diminished resistance to that disease."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) rejects a proposed study
to determine whether women get AIDS. |
| 1983 |
At the National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference
in Denver, CO, PWAs found the National Association of People with
AIDS (NAPWA) and adopt the Denver
Principles, a cornerstone of the AIDS movement articulating
the self-empowerment and rights of PWAs.
GMHC funds litigation of the first AIDS discrimination suit by
Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund.
The
New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute is established
to enhance the quality of life for persons with HIV by improving
prevention and health care services through performance measurement
and science-based initiatives.
A major outbreak of AIDS in central Africa is reported, signaling
the beginning of the plight of developing countries in combating
the disease. |
| 1984 |
The CDC requests GMHC's assistance in planning public
conferences on AIDS.
GMHC publishes its first safer sex guidelines, "Healthy Sex
is Great Sex."
Dr. Luc Montagnier in France (and later, Dr. Robert Gallo in the
U.S.) isolates a new retrovirus, later known as Human
Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. |
| 1985 |
Rock Hudson's revelation that he has AIDS, and his
subsequent trip to France for experimental drug treatment, makes
the disease a household word and underscores the plight of PWAs
in accessing cutting-edge medications.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first enzyme
linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
test kit to screen for antibodies to HIV.
The American Association of Blood Banks and the Red Cross begin
screening the country's blood supply for HIV antibodies, rejecting
gay donors.
GMHC's art auction, held at Sotheby's, is the world's first million-dollar
AIDS fundraiser.
Robert C. Woolley wields the gavel at the GMHC Auction.
The First International Conference on AIDS is held in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Polls show 72% of Americans favor mandatory testing; 51% favor
quarantine; and 15% favor tattoos for those infected with HIV.
The CDC estimates as many as 1 million people worldwide are infected
with HIV.
The New York City Department of Health begins closing gay bathhouses,
over the objections of activists and civil libertarians who argue
that they provide ideal venues for safer sex education and outreach.
The United States military institutes mandatory HIV testing for
all enlisted men and women.
New York City Council of Churches and Manhattan Borough President
David Dinkins co-sponsor a conference at City College to discuss
AIDS in communities of color. |
| 1986 |
New York City's first anonymous testing site opens.
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop calls for AIDS education for children
of all ages, saying that "We can no longer afford to sidestep
frank, open discussions about sexual practices homosexual or heterosexual.
Education about AIDS should start at an early age so that
children can grow up knowing the behaviors to avoid to protect themselves
from exposure to the AIDS virus."
GMHC holds the first AIDS Walk in New York; over 4500 walkers raise
$710,000 (above).
The Reagan administration urges the public not to panic since AIDS
is confined to gay men and IV drug users.
GMHC's client base now includes heterosexual men and women, hemophiliacs,
intravenous drug users, and children.
The Justice Department rules that people with or suspected of having
HIV may be legally fired.
Twenty states introduce bills to ban PWAs from food-handling and
educational jobs, making it a crime to transmit HIV, and to force
testing of prostitutes. Several pass. |
| 1987 |
AZT, the first drug approved to fight HIV is marketed;
the cost of a year's supply is $10,000, making it one of the most
expensive drugs ever sold. The recommended dose is one capsule every
four hours around the clock — a regimen later shown to be extremely
toxic.
After a six year silence, President Ronald Reagan uses the word
"AIDS" in public for the first time.
The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) is initiated to ensure
the availability of medications to un- or under-insured PWAs.
Senator Jesse Helms, "disgusted" by GMHC's Safer Sex
Comix, attempts to prevent funding of AIDS education efforts that
"encourage or promote homosexual sexual activity." The
NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt organizes; its first display covers
a space larger than a football field and includes 1,920 panels.
CDC expands the definition of AIDS to include wasting syndrome,
LIP (a pediatric pneumonia) and dementia.
The US shuts its doors to HIV-infected immigrants and travelers.
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| 1988 |
Condom
use is shown to be effective in preventing sexual transmission
of HIV.
For the first time, more new AIDS cases are attributed to needle-sharing
than to sexual contact. The majority of new AIDS cases in New York
are among African Americans; people of color account for more than
two thirds of all new cases.
GMHC consolidates its array of programs in a new six-story headquarters
on West 20th Street (above).
The First World AIDS Day is held on December 1 to create global
AIDS awareness. The theme is "Join the Worldwide Effort."
Surgeon General Koop mails 107 million copies of "Understanding
AIDS" to every American household.
The United States bans discrimination against federal workers with
HIV. |
| 1989 |
GMHC leads a successful effort to draft and pass
New
York State's AIDS-Related Information Bill, ensuring confidentiality.
GMHC and other AIDS organizations announce a boycott of the 1990
International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco to protest U.S.
immigration policies. |
| 1990 |
AIDS activist Ryan White dies at age 19.
The
Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act
passes authorizing $881 million in emergency relief to 16 cities
hardest hit by the epidemic. Congress only appropriates $350
million.
NYC Mayor David Dinkins, Representative Ted Weiss (D-NY), and
GMHC Executive Director Tim Sweeney testify before Congress.
President George Bush signs the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to protect people with
disabilities, including people with HIV infection, from discrimination.
Insurance companies in New York win a legal battle to test applicants
for HIV before covering them.
American AIDS deaths pass the 100,000 mark — nearly twice
the number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.
Surviving AIDS by Michael Callen, the first book to talk
about long-term survivors of AIDS, is published.
The first GMHC Dance-A-Thon raises over $1 million (above). |
| 1991 |
Earvin "Magic" Johnson announces that
he is HIV-positive, becoming the first major celebrity to acknowledge
contracting the virus through heterosexual sex.
After months of rancorous debate, the New York City Board of Education
approves an HIV/AIDS
initiative, which includes condom availability in high schools.
A Roper poll commissioned by GMHC finds that a majority of Americans
believe that the federal government is not doing enough to fight
AIDS and that explicit AIDS education is needed.
Thousands attend GMHC's "Gathering of Remembrance and Renewal,"
the first GMHC event commemorating ten years of AIDS (above). |
| 1992 |
In response to mounting activism and protest, the
FDA starts "accelerated approval" - interim licensing
- to get promising drugs to PWAs faster.
After five years of litigation led by GMHC, the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), and others, a federal court strikes down
"offensiveness" restrictions on AIDS education materials
proposed by Senator Jesse Helms.
New York City Mayor David Dinkins names Ronald Johnson the first
Citywide Coordinator of AIDS Policy.
Bill Clinton is elected president, the first to do so on a campaign
platform that contains HIV and AIDS issues, including: full funding
of the Ryan White CARE Act, targeted and honest HIV prevention,
an increase in the research budget, an end to discrimination against
HIV-positive immigrants, and the appointment of a national AIDS
"czar." |
| 1993 |
The CDC
expands the definition of AIDS to include four new conditions,
including some specific to women. New AIDS diagnoses are expected
to increase by as much as 100% as a result of the change.
Over 13,800 people - more than a quarter of all New York City residents
diagnosed with AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic - have been
clients of GMHC.
The CDC, NIH, and FDA declare in a joint statement that condoms
are "highly effective" for prevention of HIV infection. |
| 1994 |
GMHC successfully fends off right-wing attacks to
create "Young, Hot, Safe", a NYC subway campaign aimed
at gay, lesbian, and heterosexual young adults.
The CDC reports that heterosexually
acquired cases of AIDS rose 130% from 1992 to 1993, while cases
among gay men rose 87%.
GMHC participates in the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots
with the slogan "Fight to Live, Fight to Love, Fight AIDS"
(below).
After the first AIDS Czar, Kristin Gebbie, resigns, GMHC calls
on President Clinton to give the position the power needed to be
effective.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at
least 19.5 million people worldwide have become HIV-infected
since the beginning of the epidemic. |
| 1995 |
The CDC announces that AIDS
has become the leading cause of death for Americans aged 25 to 44.
The biggest increase is reported among men of color who have
sex with men.
The FDA
approves Saquinavir, the first in a new class of drugs called
protease inhibitors, in a record 97 days. |
| 1996 |
The FDA approves the sale of first home
HIV test kit.
Recognizing that prevention messages work best if tailored to specific
audiences, GMHC launches its first-ever prevention campaign designed
expressly for HIV-negative men, "Staying Negative - It's Not
Automatic."
The Eleventh International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver generates
optimism and hope over the early results from antiretroviral combination
drug therapy.
The FDA
approves an HIV viral load test, which measures HIV levels in
the blood and is the most effective way to track the progression
of HIV throughout the body and evaluate the success of antiretroviral
combination drug therapy.
Cover stories hailing AIDS breakthroughs and the "end"
of the epidemic appear in The New York Times Magazine,
The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. |
| 1997 |
The first human trials of an AIDS vaccine begin
with 5,000 volunteers from across the nation.
The CDC reports the first case of probable HIV
transmission through kissing.
WHO estimates that 30.6
million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, more than
the population of Australia.
GMHC services are consolidated in the Tisch Building on West 24th
Street and GMHC's David Geffen Center for HIV Prevention and Education
begins providing on-site HIV testing and counseling services.
Joan Tisch at the dedication of GMHC's Tisch Building.
AIDS is now New York City's leading cause of death for women ages
25 to 44. |
| 1998 |
GMHC launches the "Beyond 2000 Sexual Health
Survey" in New York City, the largest survey of gay and bisexual
men since the beginning of the epidemic.
New
York State HIV Reporting and Partner Notification Act signed
into law, requiring that cases of HIV (not just AIDS) be reported
to the Department of Health and that the names of contacts be requested
and notification attempted.
A GMHC study published in Newsday reports an estimated
69,000 people in New York State have HIV but remain unaware of it.
African
Americans account for 49% of AIDS deaths. Mortality for
African Americans is almost ten times that of whites and three times
that of Hispanics. |
| 1999 |
The
Young Men's Survey (YMS), the first large-scale study of HIV
infection among young gay men in New York City, finds that large
numbers have become infected with the virus in the last two years,
with the levels of infection among young black men exceeding those
among white and Hispanic men. |
| 2000 |
After years of lobbying by HIV/AIDS service organizations,
New York State passes legislation decriminalizing
sale and possession of syringes without prescription.
The CDC reports that black
and Latino men now account for more AIDS cases (in the United
States) among men who have sex with men than white men.
The GMHC AIDS Hotline becomes accessible via email (below).
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| 2001 |
In a national test case challenging the illegal
harassment and arrest of participants in a needle exchange program,
a federal court in Connecticut rules that police may not interfere
with a public health initiative that effectively combats disease
through education and prevention.
A new study shows that 14% of individuals newly infected with HIV
in the U.S. already exhibit resistance
to at least one antiviral drug.
The 189 member nations of the U.N. General Assembly adopt by consensus
a global blueprint for action on HIV/AIDS and Secretary General
Kofi Annan calls for the creation of a $7
to $10 billion global fund to combat AIDS in the developing
world.
GMHC and other AIDS organizations commemorate the twentieth anniversary
of the AIDS epidemic.
In response to a dramatic increase in syphilis cases in New York
City, GMHC begins on-site syphilis testing in partnership with the
New York City Department of Health.
Flying in the face of recommendations
by the Surgeon General, the Bush Administration begins promoting
abstinence-only HIV prevention programs and targets programs that
do otherwise for audits by the Office of the Inspector General of
the Department of Health and Human Services. |
| 2002 |
The Bush Administration removes Condom Fact Sheets
from the "Programs that Work" section of the HHS Website.
After much protest, revised Condom Fact Sheets that downplay
the effectiveness of condoms in preventing pregnancy and sexually
transmitted infections are later reposted to the website.
The FDA
approves a new rapid HIV testing device. The test is easy to
use, produces reliable results in 20 minutes, and eliminates the
current weeklong waiting periods for test results.
GMHC launches the Institute
for Gay Men's Health, a new initiative promoting the health
and wellness of gay men in a broader health context.
GMHC Board President William McCarthy, NYC Council Member Phil
Reed, and GMHC Executive Director Ana Oliveira at the Institute
Launch.
GMHC joins activists at the Fourteenth International AIDS Conference
in Barcelona to disrupt HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's speech in
protest of the Bush administration's under-funding of domestic and
global AIDS programs.
In response to reports that one-third of all HIV-positive people
also test positive for Hepatitis C, GMHC
begins offering on-site Hepatitis C testing. |
| 2003 |
GMHC holds the 18th Annual New York AIDS Walk; over
40,000 walker raise nearly $5 million.
President George W. Bush signs a bill authorizing up to $15 billion
in funding over the next five years for Global AIDS, tuberculosis,
and malaria treatment and prevention for 12 African and two Caribbean
countries.
Activists express deep reservations about a provision that gives
abstinence programs a third of USAID's prevention funding.
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| 2004 |
The FDA approved the use of oral fluid samples with a rapid HIV diagnostic
test kit that provides screening results with over 99% accuracy in as little
as 20 minutes.
GMHC joins forces with AIDS Project Los Angeles to establish the
Institute
for Gay Men's Health, a national HIV prevention effort to develop and
promote a nationwide health and wellness agenda for men who have sex with
men.
GMHC launches a new Women's Institute
to concentrate its efforts and explore
new approaches to HIV prevention, particularly for women of color, who are
at the center of the epidemic.
Dancers fill the Javits Center while raising money at Move Against AIDS:
Return of the Dance-a-thon.
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| 2005 |
GMHC joins national
HIV Stops With Me social marketing
campaign which aims to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and to acknowledge
the powerful personal role that people who are positive have taken in ending
the epidemic.
AIDS Walk New York, the world's largest private AIDS fundraising event marks
its 20th year and raises a record $5.8 million.
© 2008 Gay Men's Health Crisis |
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HELP GMHC FIGHT AIDS! |
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