Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - November 10, 1985
The change in policy, a close call, is justified by the evidence gathered while officials sought voluntary compliance and urged more education about perilous sexual practices. The message evident in affidavits of health inspectors is, What education? What voluntary compliance? A few signs in the bar caution against dangerous sex, while anal and oral intercourse proceed in large groups.
The risk in stronger health code enforcement is that it might merely drive this risky conduct further underground. For months, Governor Cuomo and Mayor Koch agreed with their health commissioners that restraint was the best policy. Then State Commissioner David Axelrod found prevailing conditions unacceptable. Too many establishments were not just tolerating but promoting dangerous sex, not merely failing to protect their customers but exploiting their compulsive tendencies.
Given current knowledge about this bewildering disease, it is hard to fault Dr. Axelrod's judgment that enforcement will probably save some lives. Perhaps the activity will be driven underground, but that alone might deter it somewhat. That's a judgment shared by many homosexuals. The city and state lack the resources for perfect enforcement and the task can become only more complicated after the worst offenders have been put out of business. Officials must carefully measure the effects of their enforcement while monitoring other ways in which the virus is spread.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome brings out homophobia in some people, but the noblest compassion in many others. For all the political risk associated with AIDS, officials have acted out of concern for human life and there is no basis for questioning their sincerity. The new enforcement will demand still more trust, and humility.
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