On the pain and suffering wrought by Falwell.
Here is just one part of that legacy, just one. But a very important one that has affected millions of lives world wide to this day…
Following discovery of the first cases in 1981, it soon became clear a
national health crisis was developing. But President Reagan’s response was
“halting and ineffective,” according to his biographer Lou Cannon. Those
infected initially with this mysterious disease — all gay men — found
themselves targeted with an unprecedented level of mean-spirited hostility.A significant source of Reagan’s support came from the newly identified
religious right and the Moral Majority, a political-action group founded by
the Rev. Jerry Falwell. AIDS became the tool, and gay men the target, for the
politics of fear, hate and discrimination. Falwell said “AIDS is the wrath of
God upon homosexuals.” Reagan’s communications director Pat Buchanan argued
that AIDS is “nature’s revenge on gay men.”With each passing month, death and suffering increased at a frightening
rate. Scientists, researchers and health care professionals at every level
expressed the need for funding. The response of the Reagan administration was
indifference.