<p>This dissertation
examines the political response of gay and lesbian organizations to the
HIV/AIDS crisis through the lens of disability. When the National Gay Task
Force (NGTF) formed in the 1970s, their early political efforts confronted the
stigma and exclusion associated with the American Psychiatric Association’s
disabling label. In the 1980s, gay and lesbian organizations faced a deadly
epidemic—AIDS. The high cost of medical care left people with AIDS destitute.
NGTF pressed the Social Security Administration to modify their disability
criteria to recognize AIDS and ARC as qualifying disabilities. Fear and
homophobia left people with AIDS vulnerable to employment, housing and medical
discrimination as well as social ostracism. Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Lambda Legal
Defense and Education Fund countered AIDS discrimination in New York through
collaborative efforts with city and state agencies. Disability rights codes and
laws offered people with AIDS some protection against discrimination. The Task
Force, the Gay Rights National Lobby and the Disability Rights Defense &
Education Fund joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in 1982. While
the Conference did not engage in the campaign for gay and lesbian rights in the
1980s, their extended legislative crusade for the Civil Rights Restoration Act
would bring AIDS onto the battlefield. This study finds these various
antecedents came into play during the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to
the extent that gay and lesbian organizations could describe the ADA as an
“AIDS bill” in terms of both their political participation and the text
protecting people with contagious diseases who were not a threat.<br></p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/8969849 |
| Date | 16 October 2019 |
| Creators | Nancy E Brown (7012733) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/AIDS_and_the_Politics_of_Disability_in_the_1980s/8969849 |
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