Moral Majority report
<p>Most states still outlawed same-gender sex in the 1980s. Many Americans, deeply offended by homosexuality, objected to any acceptance of it. Some of them considered it a sin, and believed AIDS was a suitable punishment.</p>
Candlelight vigil
1989 candlelight vigil on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
Vigil candle, 1989
Candlelight vigils often accompanied displays of the Memorial Quilt.
"AIDS - plague from God"
<p>Most states still outlawed same-gender sex in the 1980s. Many Americans, deeply offended by homosexuality, objected to any acceptance of it. Some of them considered it a sin, and believed AIDS was a suitable punishment.</p>
<p><em>Donna Binder, photographer</em></p>
White House protest, 1987
<p>Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.” The SILENCE=DEATH emblem, adopted that same year by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), was a call to change tactics, since neither silence nor community self-reliance had stopped the deaths. The pink triangle was a symbol of the gay rights movement.</p>
<p><em>Donna Binder, photographer</em></p>
"Act up" pin
Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.” The SILENCE=DEATH emblem, adopted that same year by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), was a call to change tactics, since neither silence nor community self-reliance had stopped the deaths. The pink triangle was a symbol of the gay rights movement.
"Fight AIDS not people with AIDS" pin
Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.” The SILENCE=DEATH emblem, adopted that same year by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), was a call to change tactics, since neither silence nor community self-reliance had stopped the deaths. The pink triangle was a symbol of the gay rights movement.
"SILENCE = DEATH" poster
Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.” The SILENCE=DEATH emblem, adopted that same year by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), was a call to change tactics, since neither silence nor community self-reliance had stopped the deaths. The pink triangle was a symbol of the gay rights movement.