Out in the Archives
Gender and Sexuality Collections at Georgia State University

Reagan’s Response

President Ronald Reagan and his administration have traditionally been considered slow to respond to the AIDS pandemic. Reagan did not in fact mention the word AIDS until September 1985, when he responded to reporters’ questions. His first speech about the disease was delivered to the College of Physicians in Philadelphia in 1987.

“The worst part of it was going to hospitals and going to people’s homes and doing what you could do, then going home and turning on the news and seeing a president who would not fucking say the word AIDS in public. We have a public health crisis and at the very top levels of our government the president of the United States refused to acknowledge it. He deferred to the religious right – this is God’s punishment.”
David Garner, May 6, 2019

Gay Community News, November 16, 1980
Newspaper clipping — “Rich, White, Straight, Male America Responds to AIDS” [Q085-01-01]
Photograph –Atlanta Pride parade with marcher holding a sign that reads, “Quarantine Reagan, Not People with AIDS
Newspaper clipping — “Mosquito theory a right-wing scare tactic, AIDS Atlanta says”
The Georgia State University Signal, 1987-06-02
The Georgia State University Signal, 1983-08-02