Box Turtle Bulletin

Today In History, 1983: Gay Activists and People With AIDS Attack Slow Federal Response Before House Subcommittee

Angered over the Reagan Administration’s lack of a coherent response to the AIDS crisis more than two years after health officials first noticed the emerging epidemic (Jun 5), gay activists and people with AIDS converged on the Capitol to testify before the House Government Operations subcommittee to demand a substantial increase in government efforts to combat AIDS. Activists demanded more money be allocated to combat the crisis, but they also warned that money alone wouldn’t be enough.

Stanley Matek

“It must be acknowledged that AIDS-related efforts in all quarters of our system thus far have been ad hoc, largely expedient, and gravely incomplete,” said Stanley Matek, an openly gay past president of the American Public Health Association. “These inadequacies stem … clearly and almost completely from a lack of resources. It is clear … that the Administration’s marching orders to [National Institutes for Health and federal Centers for Disease Control] program directors is unequivocal: ‘Don’t ask for money; make us look as good as you can with what you’ve got’.” Matek urged that a commission be created and charged with developing a master plan for AIDS research, budget requirements, and recommendations for prioritized funding.

Activists complained of bureaucratic red tape, infighting, inadequate funding, and a lax response from the Reagan Administration for preventing an effective efforts to combat the epidemic from getting off the ground. Marcus Conant, a physician at the University of California-San Francisco, complained, “If the Jonas Salk of this epidemic were to appear today with a proposal that all of us thought worthy, it would take him 18 months to two years to buy his first test tube.” Steve Endean, of the Gay Rights National Lobby found the government’s response a “cruel joke.” He noted that that the National Institutes of Health had only spent $12 million on AIDS research to date, and said, “Whether the reason — or excuse — is the inherent bureaucratic delays in responding to public health emergencies or another example of a far too common institutional homophobia by the federal government, the response to date by the federal government has been inexcusable. National Gay Task Force executive director Virginia Appuzzo blasted the Administration for forcing the CDC “to beg, borrow, and steal from other vital programs to support their work on AIDS.” In contrast, she said, AIDS service organizations within the gay community had already budgeted $2.5 million for 1983 and another $6.8 million for 1984.

Former NGTF director Bruce Voeller said it was “imperative” to “develop a comprehensive master plan and to convene a major council of advisors to review and comment upon the plan. … In the absence of the federal leadership so badly needed in the form of such a master plan and its correlated budgets, we have seen more than two years of fragmented and ill coordinated research conducted on AIDS”

Mel Rosen, of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, blasted government agencies for not working to help people with AIDS and forcing gay groups like GMHC to develop their own social service capabilities. “Most of these services would have been automatic for any terminally iII patient,” he said. “In the cases of the AIDS patients those services were not forthcoming. Fear of the diseases, fear of death, fear of disenfranchised minorities all added to the lack of services by private and government agencies.”

“I sit before you a very changed man from a year ago,” Rosen continued. “I have discovered that medicine, research, and the so-called safeguards we have in place to
warn us about pending disasters are political and do not work when disenfranchised minorities are involved. When toxic shock and Legionnaire’s disease first came on the scene there was an immediate response by government and press. Why did hundreds of people have to die before anyone moved in this case?”

Michael Callen of New York City, NY, Roger Lyon of San Francisco, and Anthony Ferrara of Washington, D.C.

The testimony by gay and lesbian leaders were reinforced by three people with AIDS who testified before the subcommittee. Roger Lyon of San Francisco told the panel, “I came here today in the hope that my epitaph would not read that I died of red tape.” All three testified about the importance of gay groups that formed to help take care of those with AIDS, and urged the government to work directly with those groups. “For example,” said Anthony Ferrera of Washington, D.C., “the doctors and nurses at NIH are very compassionate and supportive. But they’re not gay. They don’t understand the special psychological needs of gay people.” He also was concerned that some institutions appeared to be hindering the efforts of gay groups to work with people with AIDS.

Subcommittee Republicans aggressively attacked the anti-Reagan Administration testimonies of gay leaders and people with AIDS, although, for the most part, they were far more deferential toward the men with AIDS. Except for Rep. Larry Craig (R-ID). He didn’t defer to anyone. He immediately linked AIDS to the “homosexual lifestyle” and asked whether there had been “an exodus” from the gay community because of AIDS.

Ferrara cut him off: “It’s impossible to leave the gay community,” he said. Lyon chimed in. “What we’re finding in the gay community is a very strong bonding, a coming together,” said Lyon. “I think AIDS has strengthened the gay community.” Michael Callen from New York City added: “Many of us moved to the cities to escape the prejudice we had experienced as gay and lesbian people. Where are we going
to go?”

This was the second time a congressional committee held hearings on the AIDS crisis. The first hearing was conducted by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) in Los Angeles three months earlier (Apr 13). It would take another four years before the Reagan Administration would finally acknowledge the demands of AIDS activists and convene a presidential commission to devise a national strategy for AIDS (Jul 23).

[Sources: Steve Martz. “Gay leaders Rap Federal AIDS Response At Hearing.” Washington Blade (August 5, 1983): 1, 21.

Steve Martz. “I Don’t Want To Die of Red Tape.” Washington Blade (August 5, 1983): 1, 21.

“Excerpts from AIDS Hearing testimony.” Washington Blade (August 5, 1983): 19-20.]