A rarely-seen episode of the Phil Donahue Show that featured appearances by several of the the original members of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), one of the leading AIDS awareness and advocacy groups founded in the late 1980s, has been uploaded to YouTube.
The landmark episode, which first aired on February 13, 1990, during the height of the AIDS pandemic, features fascinating archival news footage as well as interviews with now legendary HIV/AIDS activists Larry Kramer, Mark Harrington, Peter Staley, Ann Northrop, and Robert Garcia. It gives a rare look at just how dire and politicized the issue of HIV/AIDS was at that time, how truly ignorant some people were about the epidemic and serves as an important reminder of how far we’ve come, but also how far we’ve yet to go. And let’s take this opportunity to commend Donahue for giving ACT UP such a public platform at a time when it wasn’t always popular to do so.
Check out the full episode below.
H/t: Dave Evans
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petensfo
This is a wonderful segment to get to view today. How different & still the same. Phil Donahue was really fantastic & I love that he’s willing to say how he feels about his own positions in the discussion.
Does anyone have updates on these members of ACT UP? Wikipedia is coming up short.
Kieran
Phil Donahue was one of the few shows in the 1970s and 80s that was reliably gay-friendly and unapologetically brought gay people and issues into millions of American living rooms across the country. You always knew that Donahue would side decisively with the gay rights movement. We should never forge that steadfast support.
It’s also nice to know that as far as I know, all of the HIV-AIDS activists on this panel are still alive, nearly a quarter of a century later.
peter
Sadly, Robert Garcia died from AIDS in 1993. He was only 31.
Stache99
@petensfo: Well, Kramers still hanging in there. Peter Staley is still a very handsome guy.
Wow about Garcia. He died only 3 years from that broadcast. Yes. 31 is wayyy too young.
Donahue definitely set the bar high for talk shows. He was very gay friendly which was something in that era.
Stache99
I was kind of shocked listening to that women who wanted to put the Hiv people in segregated areas. Donahue of coarse played scenarios out so she would understand why that’s not a good idea at all.
Stache99
Interesting listening to that women who wanted to put the Hiv people in segregated areas. Donahue of coarse played scenarios out so she would understand why that’s not a good idea at all.
Stache99
Effing stupid commenting system! Yes. I’m shocked and interested. How about that. Lol
Harley
Well I’m glad it’s on YouTube so I can see it cause Queerty doesn’t like iPads. No videos, no GIFs, just big blank spaces where the videos should be. Also the pages load so slow. Hey, Queerty. Are you on dial-up?
gaym50ish
The religions of the world, Donahue once said, must one day atone for the great harm they have done to gay people — in particular the Roman Catholic Church, which he once considered an important part of his life.
Jeff-ish
Ann Northrop is the co-host (along with Andy Humm) of Gay USA, a show that can be seen on blip, Free Speech TV, or downloaded as video or audio on itunes. She has continued to be active in Act-UP in NYC.
ggreen
Peter Staley = yummy on a stick and he’s smart too bonus!
D P
@ggreen: Yeah, I agree. Peter Staley was and is still an attractive man.
Len John
I was there. Absolutely profound. Thank you.
barkomatic
This reminds me of how different things were back then. I remember 1990 well since it was my last year in high school and I was on the verge of coming out. The fear of AIDS was making people crazy and oppressively homophobic. It’s amazing how brave these activists were and what an enormous difference they made.
I disagree with Larry Kramer on some things but he was right. If you want real change you can’t go the nice route.
erikwm
What is ARC or AIDS Related Complex? I’ve never heard that used before. I’ve only heard HIV/AIDS. Was that what people called HIV infection at that time?
petensfo
@erikwm: At the time, medical authorities were trying to make sense and so much was new… basically, it’s how they used to categorize HIV related complications. As Ann Northrup said, it’s just all HIV.
erikwm
@petensfo: That’s what I figured. Thanks for the response.
peterstaley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS-related_complex
peterstaley
Basically, ARC was a diagnosis between unsymptomatic HIV infection and full-blown AIDS. In my case, I had a very low CD4 count, swollen lymph nodes, night-sweats, etc., but still hadn’t had one of the Opportunistic Infections that qualify as an AIDS diagnosis. I was very lucky.
erikwm
@peterstaley: Wow, you’re the guy in the video?! You’re amazing. I feel indebted to you. You changed my life. You changed the world. I’m a 34 year old gay man and I’ve never known anyone personally who died of AIDS. I wouldn’t be able to say that if not for the work you and others did.
You’re an American hero.
Thank you.
jamesinNYC
I saw Peter Staley on Fire Island a number of years ago. He was having unsafe sex with another guy. I thought he was the biggest phony since I had recently (again this was many years ago- I’ve been going to Fire Island since 1993) seen him on television talking about the importance of safe sex. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the movement talk a good game but don’t practice it or protect their partners.
erikwm
@jamesinNYC: Nobody’s perfect. All I know is, I never experienced the world in this Donohue episode. I was alive, but insulated from it. By the time I came of age, the world had changed. It changed because people fought to change it. Staley owes a lot of the credit for that.