The Gay Society / Social Response

Civility creates compassion. When one person is hurting, the whole community is hurting. The personal experiences of pain, heartache and tragedy bring about a social response. One of the social factors facing homosexuals is how society responds to these personal experiences. As we have seen in past history, usually the reply is slow. This was most evident in the AIDS health crisis of the 80’s. This disease claimed the lives of tens of thousands of homosexuals throughout the decade. With the homosexual community being the most affected, the AIDS ailment became known as the “Gay disease”. The government was slow to respond to the threat. As gay men lost their partners and their friends, society responded with fear, not compassion. Once the 80’s ended enough was scientifically known about the disease that it no longer was just a “gay disease”. It was shown to affect society as a whole. Over time the social response has mellowed and the gay community is no longer maligned or blamed for bringing this pandemic to America