My how we love to rewrite history. I recall the 1984 gay pride parade on Capitol Hill. There was a Reagan reelection float adorned with drag queens cheered by the crowd. How could that be?

Yes, Reagan not saying a word about AIDS was a true failure of his presidency - but nobody was really surprised. We were at least glad that nobody like Gary Bauer got elected, calling for quarantine. Funding and research was not held back.

We know that Ronnie was immensely uncomfortable talking about it (as we nearly everyone in public eye) - but at least we knew his past history on gay rights in fighting the Briggs initiative in CA that would have banned gay teachers in public schools.

"state trip to Yugoslavia" Wow - doesn't that take you back!
For my part, I lived in Oakland in the '80s, taking BART to S F. The terror of the AIDS crisis then cannot be understated.

Great article.

Pat dear, for me it wasn't so much terror as it was dread. It hung like a pall over everything. What got me through it was activism. I volunteered with a small, all-volunteer service organization in Seattle. In the big picture, what we did was nothing, but it was a community of people who wanted to to their part.

The difference is where and in what context a person is required to wear a mask as compared to where and in what context a person is urged to wear a condom. I don't walk around in public with my privates exposed in a state of arousal on the brink of having a sexual encounter wearing or not wearing a condom. Were I to make a choice to not wear one, it would be initially known by one other person who could object or make no objection.
The LAW now requires me to wear a face mask in public places or face punishment and public shaming. Trying to draw a comparison between a condom and a face mask and HIV and the Coronavirus is ludicrous and insulting. And if that's the way you make a case for why YOU think its important to wear a face mask, you have a pretty weak case. I'm not even sure why people ARE making their case, at least in the states that have made it mandatory. You got your way. The government is now able to coerce you to wear a face covering by threatening you with punishing consequences and public derision and humiliation. There is a greater sickness in our society than Covid-19, I'll tell you that much.
By the way, I hate Trump, cannot stand the Republican Party, the religious right, and anyone who supports these things. There was a time in the past I aligned myself with Democrats because they were a party of inclusion, tolerance, and a progressive philosophy. I now see little difference between the two parties. Both want to legislate what they believe I should do with my body and my person. Next time try comparing the Republican belief that a woman who chooses to have an abortion faces damnation with the Democrats belief that if you don't wear a face mask then you're obviously okay with killing old people, babies, the infirm, and your own family members. Both are disgusting.

Some similarities include the trump administration’s hope that the new virus will be like the old one, confined to geographies and demographics who “deserve it.”

Raindrop @ 1
You keep forgiving Reagan for being “immensely uncomfortable talking about it” and assume it’s ok since “nobody was really surprised.” Much of AIDS prevention and research could have been done if there was more talk about it, but even then-surgeon general Coop could not give the public a clear account and useful guidelines due to being “immensely uncomfortable.”

While Reagan was not so bad as some republicans who came after him he is the one responsible for reshaping the party by forcing all nominees for office or judgeship to declare their anti-abortion stand, and ushering Christian fundamentalists into the party and the federal government.

The party wasn’t so far to the right back in 1984, but Reagan is the one who made sure it will be. As you may recall WA republican presidential nominee back in 1988 was Pat Robertson.

Apples and oranges. HIV, before better treatments, killed anyone who got it. COVID19 kills the old, infirm and chronically sick.

@9: Apples and apples. "Anyone who got it [the gays and IV drug users]" then and "the old, infirm and chronically sick" now = people whom many have deemed expendable. And hey, I've got an oranges and oranges for you, too: those "others" were not then and are not now the only ones at risk for severe illness and death. No one is saying COVID-19 and AIDS/HIV are the same, but some comparisons are valid.