I came out in 1982, I was 16 yrs old. I had to move in with my sister Mom and dad could not handle it. In 2015 my mom walked me down the Isle when me and my husband got married. One day my mom told me she was sorry for kicking me out when I came out she'll never know just how much that meant to me. in 1986 my best friend was tested positive for HIV. He is still with us and one of the longest living aids patients.
My friend was outed by his brother in the fall of 1995, our senior year. His parents were born again Christians and intended to ship him off to a conversion camp in Europe, so my parents immediately said he could live with us and told his parents they would take them to court and petition to be his guardians on the basis of emotional cruelty. It always meant so much to me to have such kind parents. They were also AIDS activists.
@@wickedwonka9155 Tell your parents thank you. I lost a lot of friends to AIDS. You never forget the call from someone telling you they've just found out they are positive and you need to get tested. I was negative. longest 2 weeks of my life, that was the summer of 1985.
I am a 67 year old gay man. I was also a nurse working both on AIDS units and clinics from 1982-2003. I was at the 1987 March for Gay Rights on Washington with a number of nurses. We came on behalf of our patients both living and deceased and their families and friends. We all had lost friends of our own as well, so being there was both personal and professional. I saw the AIDS quilt for the first time on that trip. Little did I know I would be making several quilt pieces for my friends through the 1990’s. A terrible time but one that drew our community close. The lesbian community rallied to our side and cared for all the gay men sick with symptomatic disease. They truly were the angels we needed. I will be ever grateful to my lesbian sisters for their love and care.
I met my friend Mark in 1977 when he was 23. What a wonderful human being. He became my best friend. I loved him so. He passed away in 1989 at the young age of 35. Today he would have been 65. I miss my friend and all that he had to give in life. Too young and too soon. 1989 is now 30 years ago. I only wish he could have been one of the lucky ones. Today, having aids is not a death sentence like it was back then. We still need to support the younger generation that is just starting to live life. Never forget those that went before you and didn't have have a shot at life. God Bless all ......
I came out in 1993 and while it was challenging in a small town I was only able to do it with the help of those who came before me. Gay history and those who sacrificed so much so we can stand tall must never be forgotten. So proud!
@disciple duSeigneur Why are you picking and choosing what you want? STRAIGHT people and drug addicts also get AIDS but yet you keep spouting just what you want. And don't forget that LGBTQ youth have a higher suicide rate than their peers because of all the rejection from their FAMILY, friends, jobs and religious nutters like you. Why not instead of being hateful and judgmental, try being nice and accepting the PERSON because only God can judge, not man. Life is to short to be hateful.
I was 18 and came out Aug. 3rd 1982. was dragged to my first gay bar called Exedra...and then to Traxx in Cleveland . The bars were completely alive...it was that indescribable magic(literally). Disco and New wave was exploding in the bars. Disco definitey did not die at the clubs. The scene was innocent outrageous promiscuous. A mix of preppies..drag queens..New wavers..twinks. latins .blacks..huslers..every social economic group mixed perfectly. Forget about drugs-getting to the bars was a bigger addiction. Memories of seeing Divine-Slyvester-Claudja Barry performing at the clubs. It was an underground paradise. We did not know that the summer of 82 was the last great summer of the era. i did not realise Aids was just given a name exactly 1 week before i came out.
Michael Glenn, ahhhhhh man! You just took me back to when I came out in the 80's! 😊❤ My first bar was Mitchell's in Baltimore and when I walked in, it was wonderful to know that I wasn't the only one and that these were my people! We also had a Traxx in DC and you could find us all down there playing volleyball all weekend long! Good times!! Thanks for reminding me! ❤😊
@@michaelcaza-schonberger9282 Did you not take any health classes or did/ does your mommy think that it's not Christian too? Aids can happen to ANYONE. You are an educated fool. 🤦♀️🙄
@@barbkeen1221 ...glad I took you back. Nothing like the smell of Polo Cologne , Cavin Kleins, The Flirts disco hit PASSION...no cell phones less attitude.and crazy fun . The early early 80s were totally underrated. Anyone that was there knows....
@@michaelglenn367 I'm designating you my own personal time machine! ❤ OMG, the Polo!! Some Obsession in the late 80's, really talking to friends without anyones head looking at the phone, dancing at the 3 different dance floors till you were sweaty and the bar closed. Then getting back to the bar by noon to play volleyball all afternoon then hitting the bathroom to get "dressed up" and repeat the night before. I miss the 80's but we wouldn't have had all that fun with out our predecessors who dared to fight back which I'm so grateful for. Edit: going to crank up the Flirts, Pet Shop Boys, OMD and others tomorrow and will raise a daiquiri to you and the memories! 😊🙂❤
I've heard of the Bowers vs. Hardwick case. I remember being incensed that such a law existed. I was like *"who the hell is the state to determine what's ok in the privacy in one's own bedroom?!!!!!"*
I just want to thank everyone that is part of this channel and making these videos possible. I learned about Stonewall and how much the LGBT community has suffered and how much better I have it and I’ve decided if they can come out as gay were they are being kicked out of houses by their parents and being arrested for holding hands then I can come out and be myself for once. You videos have me the courage to finally be myself and not hide in the closet and be forced to talk, dress, and act a certain way. It’s hard I’m scared but I’m going to do it. I think I’m finally old enough to understand myself and how I truly feel. I’ve known I was gay since 6th Grade and I’m now in 10th.
Really interesting. I remember the horror i felt seeing the news back in the 80s, and the revulsion at the reaction of the establishment, especially the religious establishment. Since my daughter came out, I haven't treated her any differently. Why would I? She's my baby. Great video 🏳️🌈
I lived some of this history! I was at the founding meeting of Queer Nation's Boston chapter when it got off the ground, in late 1989 if I recall correctly. And I recognize Kenji Oshima (the one from Boston).
Bravo, bravo to you young people for these interviews,. Keep it up, please. This video is nesr to my heart because in the 1980s, I was an editor at the Bay Area Reporter in SF. One of my duties was to edit the paper's famous Obituary Page. That's a story in itself. But the one thing of my years at the B.A.R. I remember the most was calling the White House after President Reagan's first AIDS Commission was announced. It didn't have a single doctor or scientist on it and when I asked a White House aide named Gary Bauer why there were no medical experts, he said, "We're not trying to SOLVE the disease. We just want to know how many beds we need." After almost 33 years, I still remember that quote and the lack of empathy from the Reagan Administration. Another point. If you haven't seen it, check out Channel Four in London for the miniseries, "It's a Sin." It shows the effects ofn HIV on LGBTQ folks in London in the 1980s.
From different countries too 😁. UK decriminalised homosexual acts back in 1967, while Australia slowly decriminalised state by state from 1975 through to 1997; however we're *still* waiting for our governement to pull its collective fingers out and legalise marriage equality (on average, 60 to 70% of Australians, through many polls within the last ten years or so, support marriage equality. A very enjoyable series... thank you to all who made and contributed to these documentaries. Greetings from Australia 😁
I would love to do something like this in the UK but it is actually getting people to sit down and talk on camera. I have done a video myself that briefly deals with gay history in the UK and more from a personal perspective.
@@michaelcaza-schonberger9282 I'm REALLLLY beginning to think that you a closeted little boy who is a troll. Grow up. All sorts of people, including you and your ilk, live on this planet, so pull up your big boy pants and deal with it. Ugh!
Andrew...sorry to say that the 90s were nothing like the early 80s. Everyone at the clubs were obsessed with being straight acting...and beefed up at the gym - they discriminatef against anyone that was too...thin. And Madonna gave everyone a ferocious attitude..that really ruined the fun. It became the Politics of Looks and giving terrible attitude. It was the start of everyone have a short attention span. The late 90s i should say was somewhat better.
I came out in 1989. I was around 20-21. I waited until college. Seems like for me it was no different for me than it is now. My friends and family was okay with it and I never experienced any hate crimes, etc. And I am not OLD I am 46. YOUNG :)
I was in the front row of the historic March on Washington October 11, 1987. I was pushing Allen my friend with AIDS in a wheelchair in front of the White House. Cameras everywhere were taking our pictures as we make history for our LGBTQ community 🏳️🌈. We were clearly sending a message that we are here. It was a scary time for us gay men because we had no options. I watch so many of my friends get sick and die. I became very active in helping people who were HIV positive. It's sad how many people I know who are gone now from this retrovirus. I lost my former partner and the love of my life in 1999 😟❤
I remember watching a video similar to this from 2011 or so. It was gay youth interviewing gay people that grew up in the 1950s. I think it’s still up. The 1970s and 1980s was an incredible time in the gay community, if only we could be this close knit today. Both good and bad a lot has changed.
One more thought my friend....I remember the difficulty I had coming out , and actually accepting being gay myself. I had a therapist , one of many, and he would hook me up to a small electical devise , and when I would have a homosexual thought I was supposed to shock myself....it was attached to my fingers....and it was painful . Think about that ......I needed to not be gay so badly that hurting myself was acceptable.....I paid this therapist , can you imagine ....well meedless to say it obviously didn't work....but instead was the beginning of an awakeing , and an eventual realization that I am who I am and that's just fine. I truly appreciate the video and I'm sure you are helping another young person to accept who they are and definitely not choose to hurt their self like I did. 💪 ❤
This is my generation. In college in the mid 1980's, even our biology profs and grad students couldn't tell us for sure how HIV/AIDS was transmitted or how to prevent getting it. Yet of course, people were still going to date and mate. It was a risk in something so commonplace. Reagan had finally mentioned HIV/AIDS. Ryan White was ill from a blood transfusion. For years, gay men and women could not donate blood because of the presumed risk, even after the medical experts had found how to guard against HIV/AIDS transmission. Many people made crazy claims about gay people or divie retribution. It was bad. There was a GSA at my university, but it was near a dorm. You'd get called names simply for walking by the office for the group. I was 19. I'd finally had to admit to myself I was gay, but it wouldn't be until years later that I came out. It was illegal to have gay sex. (The video refers to Lawrence vs. Texas in 2003.) Being gay, or sexual orientation, was not listed in my high school handbook. You weren't supposed to discriminate, but it was rampant. At least three students I knew transferred schools because they were harassed so badly for being presumed gay. (I stayed but got targeted too.) There was no GSA in my high school until the late 2000's, and going to prom with a same-sex date is more recent. Also...one of the young kids who was bullied into suicide in the 2000's was from my own school district. There has been a lot of progress recently, but we still have so far to go...and still, daily, there's rampant homophobia in schools, the workplace, and everyday life. I look back at the events in this video and it reminds me of my teens, growing up. I wish I'd been able to come out sooner. But I had trouble accepting myself, and I was downright scared of my parents not loving or understanding me if I told them, or of getting kicked out. They supported me in everything else, but being gay wasn't something I could talk with them about, and I never came out to them. I was well into adulthood when I finally came out to anyone else and was accepted. But I knew for sure at 19 and had known in some way and had clues as early as 11 for sure. I wish I'd had anyone I knew I could talk with, growing up. I did try to talk to a few friends, haltingly. I had crushes on other boys that got crushed. I was able to speak out publicly at school for friends who "everyone knew they were gay," but I couldn't speak up for myself. I was another one of those boys "everyone said was gay." Well, yeah, I was, and I knew pretty well, but I couldn't yet say it. Even inside, it was, "I think maybe I'm gay," until I finally had to admit it to myself at 19, and didn't handle it well at all. This is what it was like for so many gay / LGBT people in the 80's, and it's why today's generation is so different. Some of the 80's generation were accepting, gay-friendly, and that and the courage of their kids and grandkids is what has given us a slightly more open and vocal movement today for basic acceptance. This is our history and our truth. -- And I never thought I'd see marriage equality in my lifetime. We still have a long way to go before there's real equality, where kids and adults don't have to worry what will happen when they come out or if they're open about it in public. This needs to get better.
I can relate to everything you said. I was born in 1960 and grew up in rural South Mississippi. I had tremendous trouble accepting myself and as such I was pretty much living in misery. I was 29 when I finally fully accepted myself and found my place in society. That is when I began to live life as it was meant to be lived. Even my parents were fully accepting for which I will forever be grateful. Thanks for posting.
Thank you both. I'm so glad something I wrote could make a difference for people, and that it sounds like what they could relate to. This week, I got an extremely homophobic reply to a comment I'd made on a gay teen's video. I know it's not true, but it still is hurtful. Until the owner gets a chance to remove it, it's there for people to see. The RUclipsr and his family know it's not true, and will likely be angry and discouraged at the damage that can do for his channel or for me. But it will also make them (and me) more determined. I had to come to the realization that as bad as that was, I know I'm right and anyone can read my comments and see for themselves what they think, instead of believing someone's hate It is just another part of the prejudice that LGBT people still face. What does it say when people hate so easily and are afraid to love or understand others? To me, that's one of the core questions for why homophobia is wrong.
Modern therapy makes this all much more complicated. you need to understand Psychiatry let alone psychology is no "science" they don't use any means whatsoever- like blood work, x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, exploratory surgery to prove any of their theories. Really after a lot of grief I now just look at this as part of my sexuality,& that most people are potentially bisexual and it's no big deal, if you are attracted to members of your own sex. It still comes down to something beyond your orgasm in the final analysi
I was nineteen when I came out in 1980. I worked in Gay bars and clubs from 1981--2003. For me, it was an extremely demoralizing experience, but I needed to work to earn an income, and, being a college dropout, my options for a career were limited. The gay community was absolutely rife with drugs back then during those years, and of course, it still is. For twenty two years, I had a front row seat for witnessing every aspect of 'rec drug' usage----dealing, purchasing, usage, and all the other less savory things that went on in bars and clubs including prostitution and other illegal activities---extortion was commonplace in the bars and clubs back then. In 2019, drugs are still a huge problem in the gay male community. We as Gay men must once and for all face this problem and eliminate it.
Thank you for the informative and thoughtful conversation. The video was thought provoking and shows the kindness and open hearts that are a part of the LGBTQ community , thanks again my friend. 💪 ❤
I lived in North Carolina and there was non of this talk going on. In fact yes aids was scary we just new to wear condoms and we did no it was transmitted through body fluids. This was 1989. So we didn't have all the drugs of today but we did know about safe sex. When I was 20
@@briankelly9347 Scott has a good point lots of gays in bath houses didn't use condoms, I lot friends because they didn't think they would get AIDS. I'm 75 and there was no one to tells about the use of condom when I was young.
In the '80s being gay was looked at the same way being a child molester is looked at today. You were hated, your family and friends would likely disown you.
It's actually me :-), Rev. Dr. D. Mark Wilson in Oakland, California. I've been receiving calls from friends around the country that they've recently seen it aired on PBS. In my portion on the 1980s, I wish I could have found more pics of me and my friends when we were filming it, but I couldn't find them between remodeling my home and doing parent care.
@@nicolevardon-martin4189 There was one church bulletin I kept years ago I believe from St. John Baptist Church in Boston that actually had it written on the back page.
Coming out? When? Where? There is nothing like that here in Kenya. Especially to those in their 40s and above. Still in closet. Let them keep speculating.
I WAS IN FRONT W THE SISTERS IN EARLY 80'S BUT THE WORST WAS FOR ASIAN GAY W OUT PAPERS THAT IND UP W AIDS that was hard no medical help no $$$ i was a rice queen all my friends where asians it was hard in early 80's they was no help at all for asians every week we found my friends dead I DID WHAT I COULD FOODS some $$ i did what i could gee you see them in clubs looking good a week after they where dead in early 80's things where done more for whites ( help) not for asians and worst no papers geee I cried so many nights the sisters nuns did a lot to help I was sister Notre Dame been part french after I became Miss Carridge ACT UP AND ALL THOSE CAME IN 83 MORE FOR WHITES IN SAN FRANCISCO I lost 4 lovers I lost 80/100 of my Asians friends now alone older 64 no more friends it was a big family but remember Asians and Hispanic w out papers it was a dead sentence so fast for them some did die on street 1 of my pinoy friend did return to is country is parents put him in a dog house to die and he was sending $$ to them all the time how sad it is every months I add to pawn something to help friends see guys it was not easy and now been old your rejected by gays and LOL i'm not looking for sex anymore I add 100's of mens in my life since I was 15 yrs but I practiced safe sex only I was rape at 16 and since I was not into anal sex and I think this did save me from Aids now we have an other virus geeeeee I ad my days lol been a nun a drag I add my funs visiting all bars and clubs in San Francisco and All over the world i'n an old queen that survived
I know there is anger because the response was so slow. But you have to understand that America believed it a sin, that you were warned and then you get angry that we owe it to you to take of you. Everyone had to change, not just you.
When you throw "Reagan" as a problem, its becomes a democratic and republican seperation, and ultimately devisive. This in itself is counter productive. Screw the past, lets move forward without political offiliation.
Like to admit it or not; Reagan WAS a big issue. This isn't republican or democrat; this was Reagan. He wasn't only to blame, but he went to his grave witb blood on his hands. We have to talk about the past to keep history from repeating. Not going to just "move on".
I came out in 1982, I was 16 yrs old. I had to move in with my sister Mom and dad could not handle it. In 2015 my mom walked me down the Isle when me and my husband got married. One day my mom told me she was sorry for kicking me out when I came out she'll never know just how much that meant to me. in 1986 my best friend was tested positive for HIV. He is still with us and one of the longest living aids patients.
My friend was outed by his brother in the fall of 1995, our senior year. His parents were born again Christians and intended to ship him off to a conversion camp in Europe, so my parents immediately said he could live with us and told his parents they would take them to court and petition to be his guardians on the basis of emotional cruelty. It always meant so much to me to have such kind parents. They were also AIDS activists.
@@wickedwonka9155 Tell your parents thank you. I lost a lot of friends to AIDS. You never forget the call from someone telling you they've just found out they are positive and you need to get tested. I was negative. longest 2 weeks of my life, that was the summer of 1985.
I am a 67 year old gay man. I was also a nurse working both on AIDS units and clinics from 1982-2003. I was at the 1987 March for Gay Rights on Washington with a number of nurses. We came on behalf of our patients both living and deceased and their families and friends. We all had lost friends of our own as well, so being there was both personal and professional. I saw the AIDS quilt for the first time on that trip. Little did I know I would be making several quilt pieces for my friends through the 1990’s. A terrible time but one that drew our community close. The lesbian community rallied to our side and cared for all the gay men sick with symptomatic disease. They truly were the angels we needed. I will be ever grateful to my lesbian sisters for their love and care.
I met my friend Mark in 1977 when he was 23. What a wonderful human being. He became my best friend. I loved him so. He passed away in 1989 at the young age of 35. Today he would have been 65. I miss my friend and all that he had to give in life. Too young and too soon. 1989 is now 30 years ago. I only wish he could have been one of the lucky ones. Today, having aids is not a death sentence like it was back then. We still need to support the younger generation that is just starting to live life. Never forget those that went before you and didn't have have a shot at life. God Bless all ......
I came out in 1993 and while it was challenging in a small town I was only able to do it with the help of those who came before me. Gay history and those who sacrificed so much so we can stand tall must never be forgotten. So proud!
This is an incredible project! Thank you for your contribution in making sure our community’s history and stories get passed on. 🏳️🌈🙏🏼💜
“Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.”― Leonardo da Vinci
Today's gay kids and their families and friends really need to know gay history. Thanks!
@disciple duSeigneur Why are you picking and choosing what you want? STRAIGHT people and drug addicts also get AIDS but yet you keep spouting just what you want. And don't forget that LGBTQ youth have a higher suicide rate than their peers because of all the rejection from their FAMILY, friends, jobs and religious nutters like you. Why not instead of being hateful and judgmental, try being nice and accepting the PERSON because only God can judge, not man. Life is to short to be hateful.
I was 18 and came out Aug. 3rd 1982. was dragged to my first gay bar called Exedra...and then to Traxx in Cleveland . The bars were completely alive...it was that indescribable magic(literally). Disco and New wave was exploding in the bars. Disco definitey did not die at the clubs. The scene was innocent outrageous promiscuous. A mix of preppies..drag queens..New wavers..twinks. latins .blacks..huslers..every social economic group mixed perfectly. Forget about drugs-getting to the bars was a bigger addiction. Memories of seeing Divine-Slyvester-Claudja Barry performing at the clubs. It was an underground paradise. We did not know that the summer of 82 was the last great summer of the era. i did not realise Aids was just given a name exactly 1 week before i came out.
Miserable closet case heathen Schonberger
Michael Glenn, ahhhhhh man! You just took me back to when I came out in the 80's! 😊❤ My first bar was Mitchell's in Baltimore and when I walked in, it was wonderful to know that I wasn't the only one and that these were my people! We also had a Traxx in DC and you could find us all down there playing volleyball all weekend long! Good times!! Thanks for reminding me! ❤😊
@@michaelcaza-schonberger9282 Did you not take any health classes or did/ does your mommy think that it's not Christian too? Aids can happen to ANYONE. You are an educated fool. 🤦♀️🙄
@@barbkeen1221 ...glad I took you back. Nothing like the smell of Polo Cologne , Cavin Kleins, The Flirts disco hit PASSION...no cell phones less attitude.and crazy fun . The early early 80s were totally underrated. Anyone that was there knows....
@@michaelglenn367 I'm designating you my own personal time machine! ❤ OMG, the Polo!! Some Obsession in the late 80's, really talking to friends without anyones head looking at the phone, dancing at the 3 different dance floors till you were sweaty and the bar closed. Then getting back to the bar by noon to play volleyball all afternoon then hitting the bathroom to get "dressed up" and repeat the night before. I miss the 80's but we wouldn't have had all that fun with out our predecessors who dared to fight back which I'm so grateful for.
Edit: going to crank up the Flirts, Pet Shop Boys, OMD and others tomorrow and will raise a daiquiri to you and the memories! 😊🙂❤
I've heard of the Bowers vs. Hardwick case. I remember being incensed that such a law existed. I was like *"who the hell is the state to determine what's ok in the privacy in one's own bedroom?!!!!!"*
Remember that anti-miscegenation laws were legal until the mid 1960s and that most states still have sodomy laws and blue laws on their books.
I just want to thank everyone that is part of this channel and making these videos possible. I learned about Stonewall and how much the LGBT community has suffered and how much better I have it and I’ve decided if they can come out as gay were they are being kicked out of houses by their parents and being arrested for holding hands then I can come out and be myself for once. You videos have me the courage to finally be myself and not hide in the closet and be forced to talk, dress, and act a certain way. It’s hard I’m scared but I’m going to do it. I think I’m finally old enough to understand myself and how I truly feel. I’ve known I was gay since 6th Grade and I’m now in 10th.
GREAT!!!!! thanks for bringing this up. Love all of you guys and girls, no matter what your sexuallity is. GOD BLESS!!!!! keep up the good work!!!!!
Really interesting. I remember the horror i felt seeing the news back in the 80s, and the revulsion at the reaction of the establishment, especially the religious establishment. Since my daughter came out, I haven't treated her any differently. Why would I? She's my baby. Great video 🏳️🌈
Awwww. Your daughter is very lucky to have you as a parent!! Thank you for being you! ❤🙂👍
I lived some of this history! I was at the founding meeting of Queer Nation's Boston chapter when it got off the ground, in late 1989 if I recall correctly. And I recognize Kenji Oshima (the one from Boston).
I still rage at what we went through. Love the queers interviewed and the kids' commitment
Bravo, bravo to you young people for these interviews,. Keep it up, please. This video is nesr to my heart because in the 1980s, I was an editor at the Bay Area Reporter in SF. One of my duties was to edit the paper's famous Obituary Page. That's a story in itself. But the one thing of my years at the B.A.R. I remember the most was calling the White House after President Reagan's first AIDS Commission was announced. It didn't have a single doctor or scientist on it and when I asked a White House aide named Gary Bauer why there were no medical experts, he said, "We're not trying to SOLVE the disease. We just want to know how many beds we need." After almost 33 years, I still remember that quote and the lack of empathy from the Reagan Administration. Another point. If you haven't seen it, check out Channel Four in London for the miniseries, "It's a Sin." It shows the effects ofn HIV on LGBTQ folks in London in the 1980s.
I'd like to see a 90's episode😁
And a 2000s one too - shoot, same-sex relations between consenting adults weren't decriminalized until 2003.
From different countries too 😁. UK decriminalised homosexual acts back in 1967, while Australia slowly decriminalised state by state from 1975 through to 1997; however we're *still* waiting for our governement to pull its collective fingers out and legalise marriage equality (on average, 60 to 70% of Australians, through many polls within the last ten years or so, support marriage equality.
A very enjoyable series... thank you to all who made and contributed to these documentaries. Greetings from Australia 😁
I would love to do something like this in the UK but it is actually getting people to sit down and talk on camera. I have done a video myself that briefly deals with gay history in the UK and more from a personal perspective.
@@michaelcaza-schonberger9282 I'm REALLLLY beginning to think that you a closeted little boy who is a troll. Grow up. All sorts of people, including you and your ilk, live on this planet, so pull up your big boy pants and deal with it. Ugh!
Andrew...sorry to say that the 90s were nothing like the early 80s. Everyone at the clubs were obsessed with being straight acting...and beefed up at the gym - they discriminatef against anyone that was too...thin. And Madonna gave everyone a ferocious attitude..that really ruined the fun. It became the Politics of Looks and giving terrible attitude. It was the start of everyone have a short attention span. The late 90s i should say was somewhat better.
I came out in 1989. I was around 20-21. I waited until college. Seems like for me it was no different for me than it is now. My friends and family was okay with it and I never experienced any hate crimes, etc. And I am not OLD I am 46. YOUNG :)
I was in the front row of the historic March on Washington October 11, 1987. I was pushing Allen my friend with AIDS in a wheelchair in front of the White House. Cameras everywhere were taking our pictures as we make history for our LGBTQ community 🏳️🌈. We were clearly sending a message that we are here.
It was a scary time for us gay men because we had no options. I watch so many of my friends get sick and die. I became very active in helping people who were HIV positive. It's sad how many people I know who are gone now from this retrovirus. I lost my former partner and the love of my life in 1999 😟❤
I came out in 1979 I was 19 and im 59 today!! wow a long time ago lol
I remember watching a video similar to this from 2011 or so. It was gay youth interviewing gay people that grew up in the 1950s. I think it’s still up. The 1970s and 1980s was an incredible time in the gay community, if only we could be this close knit today. Both good and bad a lot has changed.
One more thought my friend....I remember the difficulty I had coming out , and actually accepting being gay myself. I had a therapist , one of many, and he would hook me up to a small electical devise , and when I would have a homosexual thought I was supposed to shock myself....it was attached to my fingers....and it was painful . Think about that ......I needed to not be gay so badly that hurting myself was acceptable.....I paid this therapist , can you imagine ....well meedless to say it obviously didn't work....but instead was the beginning of an awakeing , and an eventual realization that I am who I am and that's just fine. I truly appreciate the video and I'm sure you are helping another young person to accept who they are and definitely not choose to hurt their self like I did. 💪 ❤
Very interesting. I truly admire the strength, the power of mankind. Congrats for the excellent work
This is my generation. In college in the mid 1980's, even our biology profs and grad students couldn't tell us for sure how HIV/AIDS was transmitted or how to prevent getting it. Yet of course, people were still going to date and mate. It was a risk in something so commonplace. Reagan had finally mentioned HIV/AIDS. Ryan White was ill from a blood transfusion. For years, gay men and women could not donate blood because of the presumed risk, even after the medical experts had found how to guard against HIV/AIDS transmission. Many people made crazy claims about gay people or divie retribution. It was bad. There was a GSA at my university, but it was near a dorm. You'd get called names simply for walking by the office for the group. I was 19. I'd finally had to admit to myself I was gay, but it wouldn't be until years later that I came out. It was illegal to have gay sex. (The video refers to Lawrence vs. Texas in 2003.) Being gay, or sexual orientation, was not listed in my high school handbook. You weren't supposed to discriminate, but it was rampant. At least three students I knew transferred schools because they were harassed so badly for being presumed gay. (I stayed but got targeted too.) There was no GSA in my high school until the late 2000's, and going to prom with a same-sex date is more recent. Also...one of the young kids who was bullied into suicide in the 2000's was from my own school district. There has been a lot of progress recently, but we still have so far to go...and still, daily, there's rampant homophobia in schools, the workplace, and everyday life. I look back at the events in this video and it reminds me of my teens, growing up. I wish I'd been able to come out sooner. But I had trouble accepting myself, and I was downright scared of my parents not loving or understanding me if I told them, or of getting kicked out. They supported me in everything else, but being gay wasn't something I could talk with them about, and I never came out to them. I was well into adulthood when I finally came out to anyone else and was accepted. But I knew for sure at 19 and had known in some way and had clues as early as 11 for sure. I wish I'd had anyone I knew I could talk with, growing up. I did try to talk to a few friends, haltingly. I had crushes on other boys that got crushed. I was able to speak out publicly at school for friends who "everyone knew they were gay," but I couldn't speak up for myself. I was another one of those boys "everyone said was gay." Well, yeah, I was, and I knew pretty well, but I couldn't yet say it. Even inside, it was, "I think maybe I'm gay," until I finally had to admit it to myself at 19, and didn't handle it well at all. This is what it was like for so many gay / LGBT people in the 80's, and it's why today's generation is so different. Some of the 80's generation were accepting, gay-friendly, and that and the courage of their kids and grandkids is what has given us a slightly more open and vocal movement today for basic acceptance. This is our history and our truth. -- And I never thought I'd see marriage equality in my lifetime. We still have a long way to go before there's real equality, where kids and adults don't have to worry what will happen when they come out or if they're open about it in public. This needs to get better.
I can relate to everything you said. I was born in 1960 and grew up in rural South Mississippi. I had tremendous trouble accepting myself and as such I was pretty much living in misery. I was 29 when I finally fully accepted myself and found my place in society. That is when I began to live life as it was meant to be lived. Even my parents were fully accepting for which I will forever be grateful. Thanks for posting.
Thank you both. I'm so glad something I wrote could make a difference for people, and that it sounds like what they could relate to.
This week, I got an extremely homophobic reply to a comment I'd made on a gay teen's video. I know it's not true, but it still is hurtful. Until the owner gets a chance to remove it, it's there for people to see. The RUclipsr and his family know it's not true, and will likely be angry and discouraged at the damage that can do for his channel or for me. But it will also make them (and me) more determined. I had to come to the realization that as bad as that was, I know I'm right and anyone can read my comments and see for themselves what they think, instead of believing someone's hate
It is just another part of the prejudice that LGBT people still face. What does it say when people hate so easily and are afraid to love or understand others? To me, that's one of the core questions for why homophobia is wrong.
Correction. Gay males could not donate blood. Lesbians don't catch HIV.
@@eugeniasyro3482 OMG, really? Yes lesbians can get it. If they do drugs or the person that they're with cheats with someone that has it.
Modern therapy makes this all much more complicated.
you need to understand Psychiatry let alone psychology is no "science" they don't use any means whatsoever- like blood work, x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, exploratory surgery to prove any of their theories. Really after a lot of grief I now just look at this as part of my sexuality,& that most people are potentially bisexual and it's no big deal, if you are attracted to members of your own sex. It still comes down to something beyond your orgasm in the final analysi
I was nineteen when I came out in 1980. I worked in Gay bars and clubs from 1981--2003. For me, it was an extremely demoralizing experience, but I needed to work to earn an income, and, being a college dropout, my options for a career were limited.
The gay community was absolutely rife with drugs back then during those years, and of course, it still is. For twenty two years, I had a front row seat for witnessing every aspect of 'rec drug' usage----dealing, purchasing, usage, and all the other less savory things that went on in bars and clubs including prostitution and other illegal activities---extortion was commonplace in the bars and clubs back then.
In 2019, drugs are still a huge problem in the gay male community. We as Gay men must once and for all face this problem and eliminate it.
Why do you feel like you were demoralized
Thank you for the informative and thoughtful conversation. The video was thought provoking and shows the kindness and open hearts that are a part of the LGBTQ community , thanks again my friend. 💪 ❤
The surge in conservatism in the 80s made life for gay people more difficult, especially in the south in America.
Can you explain more please
Wow!!, this generation of LGBTQA+ ❤❤🏳️🌈 You guys are breaking my heart, we older generations can feel the love! Thank you.🙏🤎🖤🤍💜💙💚💛❤😘🏳️🌈
From a Buddhist perspective, this video reveals what happens when ignorance is plenty and courage is so little.
This video is full extremely courageous people!
I came out in 2097. I’m still deeply closeted.
I hope this help young LGB learn to love themselves as they are. No one is born in the wrong body.
Love it
I came out this morning but, it was raining so I went back in.
I lived in North Carolina and there was non of this talk going on. In fact yes aids was scary we just new to wear condoms and we did no it was transmitted through body fluids. This was 1989. So we didn't have all the drugs of today but we did know about safe sex. When I was 20
Shut the fuck up condoms have used since the 16th century they used them till now u fucking dumbass
@@briankelly9347 Scott has a good point lots of gays in bath houses didn't use condoms, I lot friends because they didn't think they would get AIDS. I'm 75 and there was no one to tells about the use of condom when I was young.
Ardel was my College Professor and my girl crush. Incredible, sexy woman, and I am straight. Eugenia
Why do people wear rosaries as a piece of jewelry?
In the '80s being gay was looked at the same way being a child molester is looked at today. You were hated, your family and friends would likely disown you.
Who is the black man being interviewed?
It's actually me :-), Rev. Dr. D. Mark Wilson in Oakland, California. I've been receiving calls from friends around the country that they've recently seen it aired on PBS. In my portion on the 1980s, I wish I could have found more pics of me and my friends when we were filming it, but I couldn't find them between remodeling my home and doing parent care.
Hi Mark. Churches actually wanted members to take an AIDS test? That's crazy. Are there any pamphlets that exist from the time that show that?
@@nicolevardon-martin4189 There was one church bulletin I kept years ago I believe from St. John Baptist Church in Boston that actually had it written on the back page.
@markwilson out of interest, what was the actual wording?
Coming out? When? Where? There is nothing like that here in Kenya. Especially to those in their 40s and above. Still in closet. Let them keep speculating.
I WAS IN FRONT W THE SISTERS IN EARLY 80'S BUT THE WORST WAS FOR ASIAN GAY W OUT PAPERS THAT IND UP W AIDS that was hard no medical help no $$$ i was a rice queen all my friends where asians it was hard in early 80's they was no help at all for asians every week we found my friends dead I DID WHAT I COULD FOODS some $$ i did what i could gee you see them in clubs looking good a week after they where dead in early 80's things where done more for whites ( help) not for asians and worst no papers geee I cried so many nights the sisters nuns did a lot to help I was sister Notre Dame been part french after I became Miss Carridge ACT UP AND ALL THOSE CAME IN 83 MORE FOR WHITES IN SAN FRANCISCO I lost 4 lovers I lost 80/100 of my Asians friends now alone older 64 no more friends it was a big family but remember Asians and Hispanic w out papers it was a dead sentence so fast for them some did die on street 1 of my pinoy friend did return to is country is parents put him in a dog house to die and he was sending $$ to them all the time how sad it is every months I add to pawn something to help friends see guys it was not easy and now been old your rejected by gays and LOL i'm not looking for sex anymore I add 100's of mens in my life since I was 15 yrs but I practiced safe sex only I was rape at 16 and since I was not into anal sex and I think this did save me from Aids now we have an other virus geeeeee I ad my days lol been a nun a drag I add my funs visiting all bars and clubs in San Francisco and All over the world i'n an old queen that survived
Such a shame when the Lawrence vs. Texas case concluded.
Lol okay dude
I know there is anger because the response was so slow. But you have to understand that America believed it a sin, that you were warned and then you get angry that we owe it to you to take of you. Everyone had to change, not just you.
When you throw "Reagan" as a problem, its becomes a democratic and republican seperation, and ultimately devisive. This in itself is counter productive. Screw the past, lets move forward without political offiliation.
The politics of the period is a major significant factor. It can't be excluded and be a honest discussion
Like to admit it or not; Reagan WAS a big issue. This isn't republican or democrat; this was Reagan. He wasn't only to blame, but he went to his grave witb blood on his hands. We have to talk about the past to keep history from repeating. Not going to just "move on".