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I remember those times well. Liz Taylor and Barbara Streisand were telling America that AIDS was getting mainstream. They raised millions. The CDC and other educated Doctors and epidemiologists were saying it could not be transmitted vaginally unless by forced intercourse (rape) and blood had to be transferred...i.e. micro tears on the penis during anal, and shared needles. The well informed looked at it as a gay/drug user problem. So straight non needle sharing main stream Americans saw it as non threatening to them. The Hollywood/liberal/gay drums kept beating.
You could not get AIDS from someone sneezing on you or leaving their infected wet hand on a bathroom door handle on like EBOLA. You had to use a shared needle or give/take it in the ass from someone with HIV. Oh yes there are a few exceptions. Girl wipes backwards (or does both ports) and spreads AIDS virus from her previously anal-ed ass into her vagina (short viral life span), birthing with HIV, and other rare exceptions. Dental visits, kissing and mosquito worries were quickly discounted.
So I can see why America today looks at EBOLA which can even kill their babies quite differently than AIDS. And if you were an adult in Reagan's time the mainstream culture outside of Hollywood could have given a rats ass about the gays and drug users.
My brother in law was known as 'Doctor to the stars'. He told me the truth about AIDS at the time. He was treating a well known NBA star.