ABSTRACT
The progressive community's response to the AIDS crisis has revealed how incapable it is of addressing any issue in which homosexuality is central. The fact that the gay community and a sense of gay identity were already in place has enabled the AIDS movement to be as strong and unified. There is a tradition of bonding between gay people and a traditional aesthetic of gay confrontation which includes direct action, flamboyancy, humor, anger, and style. Lesbians have long been alienated from gay men because of gay male separatism, unequal access to material and social power, and sexism. And this crisis has changed gay men and has dramatically changed that relationship. Straight women have a historically special relationship with gay men that is particularly strong around moments of personal need and sharing.
