You’ve likely heard by now that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has died. Now, folx on Twitter are thinking back on his homophobic legacy, recalling when he used to give “AIDS Updates” on his radio show, during which he would purportedly list off the names of gay men who had died from the virus while playing disco music in the background.
Rush Limbaugh had a segment called "AIDS update" set to music where he mocked dying gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speaking ill of the dead' today
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) February 17, 2021
I actually did not know until today that Rush Limbaugh had a segment called “AIDS Update” in which he celebrated gay deaths. what a horrible, execrable excuse for a human being. if anything, the jokes today are too kind.
— us secretary of transportation Poot Beetigieg (@NickTagliaferro) February 17, 2021
Rush Limbaugh had a radio segment called “AIDS Update” where he’d read out the names of gay people who had died and celebrate with horns and bells.
So the whole “don’t speak ill of the dead” thing doesn’t apply to this absolute fucking monster.
Let him rot.— Harry Cook (@HarryCook) February 17, 2021
Aids Update huh…fuck him. pic.twitter.com/EbSkZC0JjT
— Deja (@Deja036474315) February 17, 2021
Rush Limbaugh used to give an "AIDS Update" on his show, celebrating the gay people who'd died of AIDS that day.
So no… it's not "liberal hypocrisy" to feel relieved that the world has one less homophobic bigot in it.#goodriddance
— Jake Lobin (@JakeLobin) February 17, 2021
Understandably, not everyone could believe the story. It is pretty shocking, after all. Not to mention sad, disgusting, disturbing, shameful, and just plain mean.
So the good internet sleuths over at Snopes investigated the matter and, as it turns out, the “AIDS Update” segments really did happen.
Snopes reports:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
While we have not uncovered any audio of these segments, we did find a few contemporaneous news articles and comments from Limbaugh confirming the contents of these controversial segments.
Iowa’s Cedar Gazette reported in 1990 that Limbaugh’s “AIDS Update,” a recurring segment in which he made jokes about a disease that had killed more than 100,000 people in the United States the previous decade, started by playing songs such as “Back in the Saddle Again,” “Kiss Him Goodbye,” “I Know I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” and “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.”
Here’s a screen grab from the Cedar Gazette’s 1990 report which features a quote from Limbaugh talking about his regular “AIDS Update” segment and the “militant homosexuals” who deserve everything they get:
According to Snopes, Limbaugh, who jokingly called AIDS the “Rock Hudson disease,” later regretted his “AIDS Update” segment after he realized it was “making fun of people who were dying long, painful and excruciating deaths.”
Earlier today, “Rush Limbaugh” was trending all morning on Twitter. But because the arc of the moral universe always bends toward justice, by this afternoon his name was bumped from the list of trending topics and replaced with “AIDS Update.”
We will refrain from making any further comment on his passing and instead leave you with this tweet:
on today's AIDS Update, PrEP continues to keep community transmission of HIV low, and Rush Limbaugh continues to be dead
— lolo's bizarre adventure (@vaginaspektor) February 17, 2021
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Roy Moss
And the vast majority of conservatives cheered with every gay mans death. Some conservatives are worse than others but all conservatives are rotten, vile people motivated by nothing but hate and greed.
Openminded
No they are not. You may believe you are right but I know I am. I’m conservative but I’ve also got an open mind and an open heart. Only the radicals on both sides make the news that paints each group in a bad light. You have no more right to make this coverall statement than anyone else has the right to claim all liberals are looking for a free ride from the government. It’s simply not the case.
Roy Moss
@Openminded All conservatives are totally amoral hate and greed driven neofascists lacking in honesty, integrity, decency or honor. It’s disgusting but it is reality. All conservatives are just rotten human beings.
Cam
@Openminded
And there it is, This newer screename for right wing troll “Roy Ajax” has been trying to tone down it’s rhetoric since it was exposed, but it just couldn’t respond without trying to “Both Sides” the hatred and anti-LGBTQ bigotry that Rush Limbaugh and other Republicans spew.
As I’ve told you under multiple screenames, your troll game is weak and tired.
Openminded
I was unaware of his AIDs Update but that last tweet totally summed up my feelings about him.
David
Love or hate him… Limbaugh was a force that redefined the entire genre of Talk Radio. His deeply offensive style and the success it had, gave rise to the countering force of Progressive Talk Radio. Without Limbaugh there would not be Stephanie Miller or Thom Hartman. He created the market for (better or worse) polarized content.
Crude bluster was his signature Yet his brand of “honest bigotry” was a very real gift to progressives. When the GOP would try to distance itself from the dark vile underbelly of its own base, Rush was always there to shine a spotlight on it, and celebrate it.
Limbaugh was the loudest symptom of the disease plaguing the American political Right . That nagging, persistent cough that reminded us that the ills of bigotry, mysongny, and homophobia were still very much with us.
While many, myself included, will NOT miss him…. Nevertheless, hIs impact as a broadcaster is undeniable.
CurtisIsTheOne
Very wise comment. One wonders if Rush Limbaugh merely gave voice to the dark underbelly or did he help create and foster the kind of hatred that haters then emulated? Regardless, I dance on his grave in glee that the world is rid of his evil presence. But make no mistake about this: others will follow in his wake who are equally dangerous. And vile. And despicable.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
“Kindly” omit the flowers.
blackhook
Good riddance to bad, hateful, bigoted, racist, homophobic, misogynist, xenophobic TRASH! May he continue to Rot In Pieces like the fat inhuman maggot he was. Come to think of it, that all applies to Fat Turd Traitor Trump as well!
Prax07
He’s burning in Hell now, hopefully being spitroasted by Hitler and Himmler, a fate I hope Trump/Graham/Mcconnell/Cruz soon share.
cuteguy
Don’t forget about Lil Marco Rubio
BoomerMyles
Don’t forget Elton John took $1m to sing at Rush”s 2010 wedding.
What people will do for money.
CurtisIsTheOne
I have heard that Elton John donated the fee he got from Limabugh’s wedding to his Aids Charity so it’s not all black and white. I wouldn’t have accepted the invitation. I mean, would Elton John have sung at a pro-Apartheid Concert? I would hope not, but….
jorgecruz
This is the first real evidence that there may actually be a god, because Rush Limbaugh died a slow agonizing death much in the way many of the people he mocked . Trying to claim what he did in some way contributed to society is like defending Hitler because he brought the world together against his hate. The world would have always been a better place if Hitler and Rush Limbaugh had never existed.
Plato
Everytime his face appeared on the TV, I tried to squish his head with my fingers. It sadly never worked.
Gingrich, Ailes and Limbaugh are each singularly responsible for turning the GOP into a hate-mongering, festering cesspool of greed and fascism.
Donald Drumpf ( not quite as impressive huh?) was only the ugly-nasty result of the 3 originals.
Jack
Disgusting, vile human waste. Good riddance. Pat Robertson, you’re next.
rbernard
Rush Limbaugh was an effective communicator on the radio.
He was a powerful demigod of negativity and divisiveness.
He marginalized and said horrible falsehoods about the LGBTQ.
He could bring out the very worse out of ordinarily good people and hypnotically turned them into angry people you didn’t want to spend time around at social events.
They say you should not speak ill of the dead and to that I say…
Good riddance jerk!
sadiedog63
I’m glad that dirt bag is dead, I hope he had a painful death too. I have no sympathy for a low life scoundrel like rush limpd**k. The guy was no good for anything. Bury him in the city dump.
sadiedog63
I hope the devil is playing volleyball with his fat thick empty skull.