News Editor, News Reporter
In recognition of World AIDS Day ,CMU’s Gay Straight Alliance in conjunction with local One Colorado coordinator Heidi Hess hosted a public viewing of the controversial documentary “United in Anger: A Hwistory of ACT UP.”
The documentary utilizes first-hand video footage from grassroots organizers who sought to reverse the negative stigma the Reagan administration had cast on the AIDS epidemic. With impressive historical accuracy, the documentary follows protestors through a variety of demonstrations that sought to improve medical conditions for citizens suffering from the life-threatening disease while battling a majority populace who favored internment camps for those affected. The documentary notes that public opinion was so negative, 14 percent favored tattoos for individuals with AIDS for recognition purposes.
Between 1983 and 1987, over 40,000 people died as a result of the AIDS virus, a grim reality that prompted CMU history professor and GSA advisor Sarah Swedberg to drop out of college and pursue AIDS-related activism.
“Being part of the activism was joy,” Swedberg said, recounting her involvement with a California-based organization.
Local One Colorado Director Heidi Hess added to the conversation, recalling her time as an AIDS activist in Nebraska.
“It was hard to find a doctor that would see [AIDS patients],” Hess said.
According to Hess, public understanding of the virus was so stigmatized that her organization could only find one mortuary in town who would agree to cremate those that had passed away because of AIDS, with the stipulation that they maintain complete secrecy lest his business receive negative attention.
“Parents would refuse to pick up cremations of their children,” Hess said. “At one point we had boxes of remains stacked in our homes.”
Though public understanding of AIDS was dramatically improved and available medical options were expanded due to the rigorous ACT UP protests, there is still ample concern regarding the virus’ proliferation through unsafe sex practices.
According to a recent study by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, the number of men who have reported having unprotected anal sex has risen by 20 percent between 2005 and 2011. Dr. Frieden reports in the “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” that the primary reason for this incline is the use of “sero-sorting,” a process by which unaffected individuals try to sleep with other unaffected individuals.
Other reports by the CDC claim that one third of the population remains untested for the HIV virus while one in ten who think they are free of the disease have actually contracted it. These statistics highlight the importance of meaningful AIDS discussion and were an important motivating factor for GSA’s presentation.
cferganc@mavs.coloradomes.edu
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