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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.

1989 candlelight vigil on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Initially ignored by mainstream America, gay people in every major city created a parallel system of volunteer-run service organizations to supply care, information, and referrals to those with AIDS.

Initially ignored by mainstream America, gay people in every major city created a parallel system of volunteer-run service organizations to supply care, information, and referrals to those with AIDS.

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop presented the government’s position on the epidemic in 1986 with straightforward and frank medical information.

The Gay Men’s Health Crisis distributed explicit material such as this 1982 brochure.

Health care workers needed specific information about ways to protect themselves from infection.

Sex education has always been a contentious topic in families, schools, and religious organizations. This 1986 textbook, published in San Francisco, was one of the first to tackle how to inform K–12 students about AIDS.

Women with AIDS were predominantly poor and African American or Latina. They were excluded from clinical trials, and the official AIDS definition did not include diseases specific to women until 1993.

Public health fotonovelas such as this 1989 booklet were adapted from a publication format already popular among Latinos.