ABSTRACT
T H E U N T O L D S T O R Y in the AIDS crisis is that of the mobilization of the gay commu nity. Bearing Witness is a study of how a community-based initiative-Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York-overcame the formidable obstacles of homophobia and fear of AIDS, and the resulting lack of an adequate response from political and health organizations. Philip Kayal shows how volunteers at Gay Men's Health Crisis ( G M H C ) confront their deepest fears about being homosexual. Rather than shun People with AIDS, they identify with them and neutralize the immobilizing power of homophobia. The volunteers have the courage to bear witness to the suffering of People with AIDS, suffering that in many ways is their own.
