40+ YEARS OF HIV/AIDS RESEARCH IN THE US
ADVOCACY
Milestones in individual and collective advocacy at national and local levels around HIV/AIDS.
1981
Bobbi Campbell, a nurse, begins writing a column for the San Francisco Sentinel about his experience living with what will later be identified as AIDS. He also shares images of his Kaposi’s Sarcoma lesions in the window of a Castro District pharmacy, at the time a diagnosable symptom of the disease, urging those with similar lesions to seek medical treatment.
Considered one of the first people to go public with their diagnosis, Campbell’s column was shared in gay newspapers around the country.
DECEMBER
DECEMBER 1981
JULY 16, 1983
JULY 16
When a group of lesbians and members of the Women’s Caucus of the San Diego Democratic Club saw first-hand the devastating effect of the AIDS crisis on men within their communities, they decided to look for something concrete to do. They saw a desperate need for blood, after a national ban on blood donations from “men who have sex with men,” coupled with HIV patients who often needed frequent blood transfusions. This led to a critical national blood shortage.
Founding The San Diego Blood Sisters, Wendy Sue Biegelseisen, Nicolette Ibarra, and Barbara Vick organized a blood drive, coordinating with blood banks, to directly help patients living with HIV/AIDS. Their first drive was a major success, with 130 donations.
1983
1985
Hart Island is the burial site of anyone who dies in New York City whose body is not collected by a licensed funeral director. People who died of AIDS in New York City 1985-1986 were buried in individual graves at the southernmost tip of Hart Island.
The grave of the first child known to have died of AIDS in New York City resides
on the island.
Today, the Hart Island Project AIDS Initiative is an attempt to identify people who died of AIDS buried on Hart Island and preserve their stories.
1985
JULY 25, 1985
JULY 25
1985
Actor Rock Hudson announces he has AIDS. He dies on October 2, 1985 at the age of 59.
A leading man in Hollywood during the 1950s and 1960s, the star's shocking diagnosis and death is credited with shining a new light on the epidemic.
1986
Reverend Charles Angel, a Pentecostal minister and societal engineer, starts Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) in New York.
A community space to support one another, the group shared ideas and information about education, political mobilization, and the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
1986
One of the first donations was
a gift of $250,000 by Rock Hudson.
SEPTEMBER 1985
SEPTEMBER
1985
The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) is founded. Dr. Krim and Dr. Michael Gottlieb were the Founding Chairmen, while Elizabeth Taylor acted as the Founding National Chairman.
amfAR later established the first two community-based clinical trial networks, making it a priority to involve HIV-positive community members in the clinical research. Today, it is one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS cure research worldwide.
MARCH 10, 1987
MARCH 10
Larry Kramer forms ACT UP, or AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, in New York City. A non-partisan group united in anger and committed to non-violent direct action to end the AIDS crisis, ACT UP held its first action on Wall Street, protesting the profiteering of pharmaceutical companies on AIDS drugs.
The group expanded, formalizing initiatives such as:
1987
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Sustained investment in research for new medicines and treatments for HIV/AIDS and related co-infections;
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Equitable access to prevention and care for HIV/AIDS and healthcare, in general;
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Tackling the structural drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, such as stigma, discrimination, and poverty.
1988
U.S. Justice Department says people with HIV/AIDS cannot be discriminated against.
Two years later, this will be codified in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
1988
april 1987
Princess Diana opens the UK’s first specialist HIV/AIDS ward at London’s Middlesex Hospital. She was an outspoken advocate for those living with HIV, especially in a time with great stigma through touch transmission.
april
1987
“HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys.”
1988
Elizabeth Glaser, an HIV-positive mother of two HIV-positive children, and two friends form the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, later renamed the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
1988
“ Elizabeth Glaser was one of the first public figures to advocate for research focused on the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS in children. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has continued to bring together top international scientists to conduct basic, clinical, and operations research as part of our efforts to end AIDS in children, youth, and families.”
OCTOBER 11, 1988
october 11
ACT UP holds its first national demonstration on the doorstep of the Food and Drug Administration in Maryland.
Protesting the FDA’s slow approval and release of new drugs, demonstrators simulated a mass “die-in,” holding tombstone cutouts that read “DEAD FROM LACK OF DRUGS” and “VICTIM OF F.D.A. RED TAPE.”
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The FDA would approve one other drug, and expand access to another, less than a year after the demonstration.
​
1988
december 1, 1988
DECEMBER 1
The first-ever World AIDS Day is observed.
World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic. It’s an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.
World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day.
1988
SEPTEMBER 14, 1989
SEPTEMBER 14
ACT UP protests pharmaceutical price gouging on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Comprising 350 demonstrators, the demonstration stopped trading for the first time in history.
AIDS activists stage several other major protests about AIDS drugs during this year, including at the Golden Gate Bridge and the U.S. headquarters of Burroughs Wellcome.
1989
APRIL 20-23, 1990
APRIL 20-23
April 20 to 23, 1990, was the National AIDS Action for Healthcare, a weekend of gatherings and rallies that culminated in a massive protest in downtown Chicago — one of the largest AIDS demonstrations ever held.
The Chicago chapter of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP, played host to activists who came from around the country to protest increasingly glaring inequities in the way the healthcare establishment was responding to the AIDS crisis.
1990
AUGUST 18, 1990
AUGUST 18
Congress enacts the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, one of the United States’ largest federally funded health related programs. The program ensures low-income people with HIV have access to medical care, medications, and essential support services to stay in care.
Today, more than 50% of people diagnosed with HIV in United States receive services through Ryan White.
Named after the national advocate Ryan White, White died of HIV/AIDS in 1990 at the age of 18.
1990
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NOVEMBER 7, 1991
Magic Johnson announces he is living with HIV, as well as his retirement from the NBA. Following his announcement, HIV testing rose by nearly 60% in New York City.
In the following decades, he would become an outspoken advocate for those living with HIV.
1991
novembER 7
“I think sometimes we think only gay people can get it… I am saying that it can happen to anybody—even me [...] Life is going to go on for me, and I’m going to be a happy man."
1993
Proyecto ContraSIDA por Vida opens.
A non-profit HIV-prevention agency located in the Mission District of San Francisco, they provided community-based healthcare to Latinx LGBTQ+ communities.
Using HIV prevention resources, they worked with underserved populations, including Spanish-speaking immigrants, Latinx youth, transgender women, and sex workers.
1993
1998
Minority AIDS Initiative was created in U.S., after African American leaders declare a “state of emergency” and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to do the same.
1998
“The Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) was created in response to growing concern about the impact of HIV/AIDS on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. It provides new funding designed to strengthen organizational capacity and expand HIV- related services in minority communities.”
2001
Dee Dee Chamblee founds LaGender, Inc.
Addressing the needs of the Metro Atlanta transgender community, specifically trans women of color, the organization focuses on issues of homelessness, incarceration, discrimination, and, particularly, living with HIV.
2001
mAY 27, 2003
The United States Leadership Against Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 is signed into law. This created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest health program worldwide for a single disease.
Today, it is estimated to have averted 25 million deaths from AIDS and enabled 5.5 million babies to be born free from HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Collectively, these countries are home to 78% of all people living with HIV.
MAY 27
2003
2016
2016
The Prevention Access Campaign Launches U=U campaign.
Meant to combat the stigma of HIV, the campaign aims to educate others about Undetectable = Untransmittable. When individuals living with HIV are on effective treatment, the antiretrovirals can suppress the virus to a level too low to be measured (undetectable). When the virus is undetectable, it can’t be transmitted.
2023
The largest gathering of lifetime survivors of HIV took place in Washington, DC as part of the Dandelions Movement.
The name Dandelions comes from the spoken-word piece by the poet, activist, and lifetime survivor Mary Bowman, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 30.
2023
The timeline above is presented for educational purposes only. We do not own the copyright to any of the written, audio, and/or visual media presented in the timeline. PHACS does not endorse any organizations or viewpoints of sources. Where possible, specific dates have been provided in chronological order.
All sources can be found here. The timeline is regularly checked to ensure accuracy, but due to the growing nature of the timeline, some inaccuracies may occur. For suggestions, corrections, or all other inquiries please email phacs.hecc.leadership@fstrf.org
