"Guilt, Innocence and AIDS"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Guilt, Innocence and AIDS"

USA Today (12/18/91), P. 1D
Painter, Kim

Abstract: Many of those campaigning for AIDS-related causes see a dichotomy in the American people's view of AIDS. While gay men and drug users are seen as deserving of the disease, others, such as Kimberly Bergalis, are seen as innocent victims of the irresponsibility of these homosexuals and drug addicts. Magic Johnson, who admittedly contracted the virus through irresponsibility, gets special treatment, say activists, because he is a popular sports figure and has widely decried that he "is far from being homosexual." Bergalis herself played into this view by telling Congress that she was suffering even though she "didn't do anything wrong." Reporter and author Randy Shilts says, "AIDS is tragic when it happens to Kimberly Bergalis or Magic Johnson.... But every gay man in America can die and it's no big deal." Still, many AIDS activists concede that public sympathy towards a heterosexual who has contracted AIDS may be the first step toward public sympathy for a homosexual in the same situation.

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