ABSTRACT
AIDS began creeping into our national psyche almost twenty-five years ago, and by the end
of 2003 it was estimated that 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 individuals in the United States were
living with HIV/AIDS (CDC 2005). The government of the United States was slow to
respond to the growing epidemic in the early 1980s, largely due to the association of the
disease with the socially stigmatized population of gay men. In fact, the disease was initially
named GRID, Gay Related Immune Disorder. None the less, through monumental efforts,
gay rights activists were able to raise awareness and funds to target prevention efforts, care for
the infected, and change the public perception of the disease (Cohen 1999). Recently,
though, there has been greater recognition that the demographic profile of HIV/AIDS has
changed. The ‘‘face of AIDS’’ is no longer primarily middle-class, white gay men, but
lower-income African-Americans and Latinos. And while women in the United States only
account for 22 percent of AIDS cases, heterosexual African-American women represent the
majority of these cases (CDC 2005). This chapter explores the role of AIDS politics in the
growing epidemic and the rise of AIDS activism, including attempts to change the ideology
of sexual behavior and the role that community-based organizations have played in addres-
sing the disease in their communities. Although AIDS is an entirely preventable disease, the
complexity of the interaction between social, psychological, and biological factors has led to
its status as a global crisis.
