Thread by @froglet80

There's been a lot of posts lately, remembering a weirdly romanticized version of the political activism spurred by the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. Everyone likes to talk about Larry Kramer and ACT UP, but how many actually remember the rest of the story? 🧵

Behind the political activism, there were real people really dying from a real illness while the rest of the world really just ignored it. Kinda like today, actually - but weirdly no one likes to discuss this part of history. 🧵

I get why it makes a good call to action but if we're gonna use their efforts we could at the very least respect their stories. Too few in our community are even willing to acknowledge the other aspects of the AIDS Crisis. 🧵

Note: if you lost friends or loved ones to AIDS, the rest of this thread will trigger painful memories. Its intended to remind those who were privileged enough to look away then.

All images from Google; I have blurred all faces as I have no idea if proper consent was given 🧵

Here in developed Western nations, in 4 short decades, we have completely forgotten what it was like to watch people dying from AIDS - both in the years before HIV was identified, and the years after before there was treatment. 🧵

We've forgotten the pain of losing a family member. 🧵

We've forgotten the hell of watching a best friend or lover slip slowly away - and maybe wondering if you're next all the while. 🧵

Hell, we've even forgotten that the early treatments were sometimes almost as awful as the illness. 🧵

Children died, too, while the world looked away. When anyone finally cared, they were called the "innocent victims," as if everyone else somehow deserved it. But no one did then, and no one does now. 🧵

AIDS is the name given to the syndrome caused by HIV. The syndrome is characterized by depletion of immune cell subsets, dysfunction of cell-mediated immunity, reactivated and opportunistic infections, cancers, and autoimmune disorders. 🧵

The infections were usually the killer. Patients experienced invasive fungal infections like cryptosporidium, candidiasis, pneumocystis, coccicoidosis; bacterial infections like mycobacterium, strep A, salmonella, staph; or complications of reactivated CMV, VZV, EBV, etc. 🧵

Cancer - notably Kaposi's Sarcoma - was also common & one of the more well known issues because of its outwardly visible nature & its propensity to manifest as lesions on the face. But it can also appear on other parts of the body. Like toes🧵

But that's all just diagnosis. Lets talk about symptoms - that ranged from fatigue and muscle aches & weakness, to severe gastrointestinal issues, to various itchy or painful rashes. Like this one, from disseminated VZV. Its like shingles, but all over the body. 🧵

The worst may have been the grief, though. Grief for friends and loved ones already lost, grief for those dying, and most of all? The grief and despair of knowing you're dying and no one cares. 🧵

I usually close my threads by asking you to support me on ko-fi if you like my writing, and while that would definitely be appreciated it just doesn't feel right this time. So here's the page to buy merchandise from or donate to @actupny instead. /🧵
give.actupny.com/gear/