Quotessence
Home / Topics / Aids Epidemic Quotes

Aids Epidemic Quotes

Browse 28 quotes about Aids Epidemic.

Aids Epidemic Quotes

“One day he and Sutcliffe were walking down Madison Avenue when a man they knew came up and told them a mutual friend had just died in San Francisco. “Of it?” they gasped. “No,” the man said, “he was run over by a taxicab.” “Oh, thank God!” They both said in unison. That was where AIDS stood in the hierarchy of misfortune, somehow; in a class by itself—so grim its aura extended to the fact, he thinks as he enters the nursing home, that people who don’t have AIDS imagine somehow they’re not going to die.”

GriefGayLgbtqAids Epidemic
Book:The Beauty of Men
Create image

“The Lottery by Stewart Stafford It was New York, 1984, The AIDS tsunami roared in, Friends, old overnight, no more, Breathless, I went for a check-up. A freezing winter's dawn, A solitary figure before me, What we called a drag queen, White heels trembled in the cold. "Hi, are you here to get tested?" Gum chewed, brown eyes stared. This was not my type of person, I turned heel and walked away. At month's end, a crippling flu, The grey testing centre called, Two hundred people ahead of me; A waking nightmare all too real. I gave up and turned to leave, But a familiar voice called out: "Hey, you there, come back!" I stopped and turned around. The drag queen stood there in furs, But sicker, I didn't recognise them, "Stand with me in the line, honey." "Nah, I'm fine, I'll come back again." "Support an old broad before she faints?" A voice no longer frail but pin-sharp. I got in line to impatient murmurs: "If anyone has a problem, see me!" Sylvester on boombox, graveyard choir. My pal's stage name was Carol DaRaunch, (After the Ted Bundy female survivor) Their real name was Ernesto Rodriguez. After seeing the doctor, Carol hugged me, Writing down their number on some paper, With their alias not their real name on it: "Is this the number of where you work?" "THAT is my home number to call me on. THAT'S my autograph, for when I'm famous!" "I was wrong about you, Carol," I said. "Baby, it takes time to get to know me!" A hug, shimmy, the threadbare blonde left. A silent chorus of shuffling dead men walking, Spartan results, a young man's death sentence. Real words faded rehearsal, my eyes watered. Two weeks on, I cautiously phoned up Carol. The receiver was picked up, dragging sounds, Like furniture being moved: "Is Carol there?" "That person is dead." They hung up on me. All my life's harsh judgements, dumped on Carol, Who was I to win life's lottery over a guardian angel? I still keep that old phone number forty years on, Crumpled, faded, portable guilt lives on in my wallet. © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.”

FearFriendshipGriefEmpathyMemoryAidsLgbtq80sStigmaAids Epidemic
Author:Stewart Stafford
Create image

“The AIDS disease is caused by a virus, but the AIDS epidemic is not. The AIDS epidemic is fueled by stigma, by hate, by misinformation, by ignorance, by indifference. Science has accomplished miracles over the past 20 years, and science can now end this disease - but it cannot end the epidemic. We need more than medicine. We can do something about these things. We need to speak out about the changes we need to make in our society.”

NeedsYearsEndsPastHateSpeakCan DoIgnoranceDiseaseMiracleMedicineAidsIndifferenceAccomplishedOur SocietyVirusesOver The PastStigmaEpidemicsSpeaks OutCan Do SomethingMisinformationAids Epidemic
Author:Elton John
Create image

“When I first came up, the whole AIDS epidemic was starting, and the gay community that I experienced from the beginning of my career was mostly - and overwhelmingly - concerned with staying alive. And, also, I felt really aware of the preciousness of life and time. The gay community and people who were HIV-positive were treated so badly, and I was very disturbed by things. But I also saw a lot of love and connection in the gay community at that time.”

PeopleFirstsWholeFeltCommunityCareersSawsAliveGayConcernedConnectionsStartingAidsTreatedStayingDisturbedHivEpidemicsStaying AliveLife And TimeGay CommunityHiv PositiveAids Epidemic
Author:Madonna Ciccone
Create image

“Drug warriors' staunch opposition to needle exchanges to prevent the spread of HIV in addicts delayed the programs' widespread introduction in most states for years. A federal ban on funding for these programs wasn't lifted until 2009. Contrast this with what happened in the U.K. At the peak of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1990s, the HIV infection rate in IV drug users in the U.K. was about 1%. In New York City, the American epicenter, that figure was 50%. The British had introduced widespread needle exchange in 1986. That country had no heterosexual AIDS epidemic.”

YearsCountryStatesCitiesHappenedFiguresNew YorkDrugProgramRateSpreadBritishAidsWarriorOppositionNew York CityContrastUsersAddictIntroductionFundingHivNeedlesBansEpidemicsWar On DrugsInfectionDelayedAids Epidemic
Author:Maia Szalavitz
Create image

“We're the end of the baby boomers, and we participated in many social changes. Who would of thought, for example, when the AIDS epidemic came along that so many would die, because it was gay people dying. And what emerged was a grassroots movement that developed, and succeeded in getting things done. The pinpointing of that movement evolved into the changes that we have today.”

PeopleEndsDoneTodayDiesSocialDyingExampleMovementBabyGayAidsSocial ChangeThings DoneEpidemicsGay PeopleGrassrootsGetting Things DoneBoomersBaby BoomerPeople DyingAids EpidemicGrassroots Movements
Author:Todd Haynes
Create image

“Do we now fight for the kind of passionate belief that I have about sexuality, about the importance of the erotic, of people actually getting to fulfill desire and not be punished because they have it? No, we're nowhere near close to that. We're dealing with an AIDS epidemic that continues out of control globally and in this country, NO, THIS IS NOT the movement that I am fighting to create. Has it succeeded in places that are very significant? Yes it has - and it would be foolish to say that those things don't matter.”

PeopleKindCountryMatterWould BeDesireFightingBeliefMovementImportancePassionateSexualityAidsFoolishSignificantEroticEpidemicsAids Epidemic
Author:Amber Hollibaugh
Create image

“The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. In particular it requires solidarity - between the healthy and the sick, between rich and poor, and above all, between richer and poorer nations. We have 30 million orphans already. How many more do we have to get, to wake up?”

FightingNationsPoorMillionsRichParticularHealthySickWake UpCrisisResponseAidsSolidarityHivRich And PoorUnprecedentedOrphanEpidemicsHiv AidsAids Epidemic
Author:Kofi Annan
Create image