freakqueer:transcription of first photo:“From the start of the epidemic, Leather organizations
freakqueer:transcription of first photo:“From the start of the epidemic, Leather organizations pooled their resources into outreach, prevention, and community support. When the cause of AIDS was identified in 1983 as the HIV virus, new rules of conduct and safe-sex programs based on the latest medical guidelines were disseminated by clubs, bars, and bathhouses. Demonized and stigmatized by their links to sexuality and kink, maybe of these businesses were forced to close their doors, further displacing and damaging communities that were decimated by the disease.”– Moskowitz, David A. et al. “HIV in the Leather Community: Rates and Risk-Related Behaviors.” AIDS and behavior 15.3 (2011): 557-564 PMC.Rubin, Gayle S. “Elegy for the Valley of the Kings: AIDS and the Leather Community in San Francisco, 1981-1996.” From In Changing Times: Gay Men and Lesbians Encounter HIV/AIDS.transcription of second photo:“There were so many of the ‘typical’ gays and the ‘A-gays’ who were trying to push us back, and subjugate us, and not let us start out. Eventually we got pissed off… We just said “Oh no, we are marching. We are here. You will accept and deal with us. It is our right to be a part of this parade.”– Queen Cougar, Ms. San Francisco Leather 1993. Interviewed for the HIV Story Project, 2015. -- source link
#queer history#queer things