Gay about Reagan's death

2004-06-07 08:06

Los Angeles - As America mourned Ronald Reagan, gay activists struck a discordant note on Sunday, lamenting his alleged insensitivity to Aids when it struck devastatingly during his presidency.

Ironically, they noted, Reagan died on Saturday aged 93 of Alzheimer's disease on the 21st anniversary of the first official report of five gay men in Los Angeles who were suffering from a rare form of pneumonia - the first recognised cases of what would later be called the deadly Aids virus.

The report was issued on June 5, 1981 by the US Centres for Disease Control.

"That is ironic, it certainly will forever tie those two issues together," said Jeffrey Prang, a city councillor in West Hollywood, a gay-dominated Los Angeles-area city.

Jon Beaupre, a gay journalist and Los Angeles radio talk show host who is HIV-positive, said Reagan's death "brought mixed feelings".

"The fact that he reflected the values of a lot of people was unmistakable. Clearly, Ronald Reagan was a man of principle and integrity," the 51-year old said.

Held back social progress

"But he did as much as any man on the planet to hold back social progress for lesbians and gay men.

"We wonder today how far we would be in solving the Aids crisis if Reagan had both recognised the scope of the tragedy and had more respect for the plight of gay men who were dying by the thousands from Aids," he said.

The broadcaster and journalism lecturer warned that other members of the gay community would be a lot less kind to Reagan's memory.

Ding-dong!

"I have a feeling that an awful lot of gay people are going to be cheering, that 'Ding-dong! The wicked witch is dead,'" he said.

Reagan, president from 1981 to 1989, came under intense fire from gay activists in the early 1980s for not allocating major federal funding to combat Aids as it disease spread dramatically, first among gay men.

The issue became a gay rallying cry that inspired gay political activism in the United States.

Despite huge progress in Aids and HIV research and broader social acceptance of gays and lesbians in the 21st century, Reagan's death brought back painful memories in the community.

- SAPA