Beaux matthews gay
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You know, that all these astonishing changes in society’s idea of being gay.
It’s through their behaviours, actions, words, recollections, etc. Since then, I’ve amassed a larger collection of sources pertaining to that period in time, and will broaden the geography to include not just San Francisco, but also New York and Los Angeles. I don’t think they would have happened without AIDS.”
-Fran Liebowitz, “Killing Patient Zero” (2019 Documentary)
Way back in 2013, I was knee-deep in my research of 1960s and 70s California.
He went on to become villifed in the media for being responsible for introducing HIV into the USA. This was shown to be erroneous later on.
Michael Callen (1955-1993) - a singer born in the Midwest who moved to New York City and embraced the sexual freedom on display just like Gaetan Dugas did. Something intrigued me beyond that of the fact that this state saw so much cultural change during those two decades that not only went on to influence the rest of the country, but the entire world as well.
Combined, they also cover NYC/LA/SF. I’ve settled on five of them: all gay white males, four of whom died from complications arising from AIDS, each representing different currents, whether they be political, cultural, or psychological. Putting all of this together will give the reader a more robust understanding of just what exactly happened back then.
The obvious question that I will be asked is “why are you doing this?” There are a few reasons, so allow me to list them:
the outbreak of Monkeypox (see this excellent primer on it by Donald G.
McNeil Jr.) is eerily reminiscent of those early days of HIV in that they were heavily centered around the gay male community (98% of those positive for Monkeypox in the USA as of this date are gay men)
the vectors for transmission are repeating the same pattern e.g. Think Larry David, but angry instead of funny. Unlike Dugas, he immediately recognized that this was a sexually transmitted disease, and that their libertine and cavalier attitude towards sex and STDs allowed HIV an open door to enter and devastate.
This includes gay men. Thankfully, COVID-19 and Monkeypox (for now) are not the death sentences that HIV/AIDS was back then. This might not be to everyone’s reading tastes, but it is gonna be one hell of a ride.
Fisted by Foucault
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“I have this belief, or theory, not that there’s a big difference between those two, that AIDS is what caused gay marriage.
Hemophiliacs were victims, alongside intravenous drug users. I will strive my best to be as dispassionate and respectful as possible for a Balkan Caveman.
This introduction is not paywalled, but the following pieces will be. Making it even more interesting to me was the knowledge that French philosopher Michel Foucault was right in the middle of it.
Alongside that, there has been new material that has been published since I first compiled “The Thread”. However, we will limit our focus to the gay community in the USA because of just how disproportionately they were impacted to the rest of that country’s population. His is probably the saddest story of the group.
Larry Kramer (1935-2020) - acclaimed playwright, author, film producer, and AIDS activist.
They are as follows:
Gaetan Dugas aka ‘Patient Zero’ (1953-1984) - a French-Canadian/Quebecois flight attendant who traveled all over North America and embraced the sexual freedom of the 70s as much as humanly possible.