Research Report

How did high-profile figures influence change in public perceptions and attitudes towards AIDS-related illnesses?

Photographic Journalism C3416050 14.01.2018

14 January 2018

Candidate Declaration By submitting this form, I Travis Reynolds hereby confirm that this thesis is my own work.

This report, or any part thereof, has not been previously submitted for any assessment, degree or comparable award and I confirm the work is my own and referenced accordingly.

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Abstract This report uses a collection of extensive research to examine how high-profile figures in the 1980s and 1990s were able to change public perceptions of the AIDS virus and the LGBTQ+ community. It explores a vast range of newspaper and online articles and news stories which were published by institutions to instil a moral panic within the UK and highlights some of the myths that were subsequently created surrounding HIV and AIDS. It also sheds light on how public attitudes subsequently changed due to the actions of notable individuals. An investigation into key historical events within the LGBTQ+ community prior to the AIDS epidemic gives the report the ability to make comparisons on the period of liberation before the epidemic and the period of uncertainty that followed.

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Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction to research 1.1 Background 1.2 Research Aim 1.3 Research Objectives 1.4 Glossary

2.0 Methodology 3.0 Literature Review Results 3.1 To develop an understanding of the political and social attitudes towards sexual health in the UK prior to the 1980s 3.2 To explore key events in the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK between 19601980 3.3 To examine how the media used propaganda as a means of creating moral panic throughout the AIDS epidemic 3.4 To assess if reporting of HIV/AIDS by the media has altered perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK 3.5 To determine how the influence of high-profile figures contributed towards a change in public attitudes to HIV/AIDS

4.0 Conclusions & Recommendations 4.1 Conclusions 4.2 Limitations 4.3 Recommendations

5.0 References 5.1 Journals 5.2 Websites 5.3 Books 5.4 Online Dictionaries 5.5 Newspapers

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Introduction to Research 1.1 Background The purpose of this research is to examine how the media can influence and ultimately change social attitudes through the use of various propaganda. Furthermore, the report will include an analysis of a number of specific cases where high profile individuals influenced public perception.

The history of the LGBTQ+ community is a subject area that affects the lives of many in British society today. It is important to look back at the various struggles that faced the LGBTQ+ community and to then identify the key figures who helped overcome the oppression which it faced.

1.2 Research Aim The aim of this study is to analyse how mass media representation of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s created a series of moral panics in society. It will then consider how the influence of high-profile figures collaboratively led to a change in social attitudes. The study will focus heavily on the influence of the media throughout, specifically during the time during the epidemic.

1.3 Research Objectives To develop an understanding of the political and social attitudes towards sexual health in the UK prior to the 1980s To explore key events in the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK between 19601980 To examine how the media used propaganda as a means of creating moral panic throughout the AIDS epidemic To assess if reporting of HIV/AIDS by the media has altered perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK To determine how the influence of high-profile figures contributed towards a change in public attitudes to HIV/AIDS

1.4 Glossary AIDS – “A disease in which there is a severe loss of the body's cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

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14 January 2018 Heterosexual - “Involving or characterized by sexual attraction between people of the opposite sex” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

HIV – “Human immunodeficiency virus, a retrovirus which causes AIDS” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

Homosexual – “Involving or characterized by sexual attraction between people of the same sex” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

LGBTQ+ - “An abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

Media – “The main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

Propaganda – “Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

Theoretical – “Based on or calculated through theory rather than experience or practice” (Oxford Dictionaries | English, n.d.).

2.0 Methodology The report is solely a literature review which consists of extensive secondary research. The theoretical nature of the objectives establishes that methods of data analysis needed to span across a range of resources, including newspaper archives, online articles, journals and textbooks, with particular emphasis on those that spanned between 1980-2000 and focused on the AIDS epidemic.

Having theoretical objectives meant that the report could have the essential discussion and analysis of literature which ultimately meant that the research was completed using qualitative methods. After the compilation of research, comparisons and, ultimately, a conclusion was able to be drawn to distinguish whether high-profile figures did influence a change in public perceptions surrounding AIDS and HIV. Whilst cross examining journals and historical legislations, a grasp of British sexual health prior to the 1980s displayed an understanding of the social and political aspects which influenced family life. Unfortunately, articles surrounding LGBTQ+ before the 1960s were rare, and, if at all, the gay community were portrayed in a negative light. Due to this lack of information it was hard to accurately measure change in public opinion when analysing the media.

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3.0 Literature Review Results 3.1 To develop an understanding of the political and social attitudes towards sexual health in the UK prior to the 1980s According to Iyer and Aggleton (2014), it was apparent from 1940s newspaper publications that the importance of sexual health fell on the shoulders of young women, as, at the time, they were the ones who were expected to reproduce and maintain good health within their families. Iyer and Aggleton go on to stress that the 1950s were a time when these ideals were refreshed in educational texts, alongside pre-marital and pre-parenthood, partially to help prevent “homosexuality amongst boys and prostitution amongst girls”. This highlights the governmental pressures placed on young children that reinforced the idea of traditional family life before the 1960s.

The publishing of the Wolfenden Report in 1957 outlined recommendations for homosexuality to be decriminalised (Grimley, 2009), however, these were not acted upon until later. It is clear that prior to the 1960s, Britain had rarely experienced any change in social and political attitudes towards sexual health. Due to this, when change came, the Tate (2018) described it as a “seismic shift”, with key events leading to us living in a new “permissive society”.

The 1967 Abortion Act meant that it was legal to have abortions; this was a pivotal moment in the shift of social attitudes as the act introduced a fail-safe for many women who were scared of getting pregnant outside of wedlock. Iyer and Aggleton (2014) claim that the 1970s brought about a “new sexual morality” and that social and political definitions of “acceptable and normal” sexuality had changed. Society was now under the impression that younger generations were almost always sexually active before marriage, which meant that a change in the way that sex education was taught needed to reflect these new social norms.

The 1967 Sexual Offences Act was published, decriminalising homosexuality in private spaces. Political pressure for further changes grew due to liberating ideas surrounding marriage and the introduction of 1969 Divorce Reform Act reflected this. The act meant that couples could now separate under new terms described as the “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” or “a seven-year separation” (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017). This change meant that it was much more likely to have multiple sexual partners in a lifetime than ever before.

In the following years, the LGBTQ+ community witnessed an increasing amount of support, most prominently through the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). Set up in 1971, the GLF allowed men and women of all sexualities to come together in support groups and discuss ideas for liberation (Feather, n.d).

Alex Comfort’s 1972 publication ‘Joy of Sex’ was extremely popular throughout Britain. The book featured illustrations of various sex positions and highlighted desires to experience other types of sexuality and exploration within society (Hebblethwaite, 2011). This desire led to people having more sex and a subsequent lack of sexual health awareness which was never a necessity to the previously less sexually active generation.

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An increase in sexual activity led to the development of newer forms of contraception and in 1974, the contraceptive pill was made readily available for single women at family planning clinics, a decision described by Café (2011) as “controversial”. A contraceptive pill eliminates the emotional trauma that women can go through when having abortions therefore potentially increasing their sexual activity. The fact that the pill was readily available for ‘single’ women almost ridiculed previous ideals that sex was exclusive to marriage.

The focus on sexual health predominantly focused on heterosexual couples and potential pregnancies. This meant that it wasn’t until the end of the 1970s that multiple medical professionals, both gay and LGBTQ+ allies alike, recognised a need to develop guides and give advice on safer ways to partake in same-sex activity. Blair (2017) suggests that it was too late as the advice came about only a short while before the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

3.2 To explore key events in the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK between 1960-1980 Cook and Cocks (2007) stress that the new 1964 Labour Government, led by Harold Wilson, started to recognise a public desire for change and social reform. That same year, Allan Horsfall founded the ‘North-West Homosexual Law Reform Committee’ which generated new homosexual ideals to shun its prior classifications as a mental health disorder.

A year later in 1965, Lord Aarran produced a ‘Sexual Offences Bill’, in which he used suggestions published almost ten years prior in the controversial ‘1957 Wolfenden Report’ which implied it was time for the decriminalisation of some homosexual offences (Birminghampride.com, 2017). It shows that almost a decade later, the ‘Wolfenden Report’ was still having political impact and was helping to promote change.

Media institutions were beginning to support the gay community and Cook and Cocks (2007) make note of televised documentaries in 1965 and 1967 which featured never-before-seen footage of gay men giving first-person accounts of their own experiences. These men were given a televised platform which meant that for the first time, many people were able to listen to true accounts of the reality of being homosexual.

Beddoe (2016) disclosed that in 1966 the government experienced the downfall of a homosexual conservative MP named Humphry Berkeley, who shortly after his fight for the legalisation of homosexuality, lost his seat in parliament. Despite this political setback, a year later, the ‘Sexual Offences Act 1967’ meant that gay men over 21 could no longer face legal consequences for sexual activity which took place in private spaces, furthermore showing that progress was still being made with regard to gay rights (Weeks, 1990).

Weeks (1990) goes on to mention that the start of the 1970s marked “a turning point in the evolution of homosexual consciousness........stressing openness, defiance, pride, and above all, self-activity”, and the rise of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was a true reflection of this.

The GLF was the first example of a militant activist group which draws on the idea of defiance against government policies and established social norms (Feather, n.d).

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The 1971 Christian ‘Festival of Light’ was supported by a number of high-profile celebrities including singer Cliff Richard and was hosted to promote non-homosexual ideals (Whipple, 2010). Whipple reported that it was boycotted by a GFL march which led to publicity of the event being diverted towards the gay revolution. Unsurprisingly, growing pressures from the Christian faith led to the ‘1971 Nullity of Marriage Act’ which banned same-sex marriage, which Hall (1971) suggested was too brief and contained many flaws.

Over 1000 people gathered together for the first gay pride march in 1972 through Hyde Park in London, and Weeks (1990) reported that the theme was “balloons, frocks and love” setting the trend for pride events in the following decades. Support was evidently growing for the community and Robinson (2007) details how, in 1973, an organisation called the ‘London Icebreakers’ was established to provide a 24-hour support line to the LGBTQ+ community. A support line being specifically dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community highlights the growing acknowledgement that homosexual people are prominent members of society.

1974 saw parliament experience a political revelation when conservative MP Maureen Colquhoun came out as lesbian (Shariatmadari, 2015). Shortly afterwards in 1975, ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ was shown on ITV; the film featured Quentin Crisp who was described as a flamboyant homosexual. Smith (2008) expressed that the general reception from the viewing public was that the audiences sympathised, but did not empathise with Crisp, highlighting major changes in public attitudes. This is common example in a time where it was easier as a heterosexual to pity a gay man than to relate to him.

In 1976, Hellar (1980) confirmed that the first medical term which related solely to the LGBTQ+ community was ‘Gay Bowel Syndrome’. It was used by medical professionals around the world to characterize rectal infections and diseases amongst gay men prior to the 1980s AIDS epidemic. A clear example of a how even medical professionals would link a specific disease exclusively to homosexuality. The name ‘Gay Bowel Syndrome’ of the disease almost mocks the act of homosexual intercourse, by using the word ‘gay’ in a defamatory manner.

Furthermore, this foreshadowed future negative correlations between HIV and gay men.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) became affiliated with the LGBTQ+ community, due to the support they received from the community throughout the 1970s. In 1977, the first gathering was held to discuss the rights of homosexuals in the workplace (Cook and Cocks, 2007). Again, this reiterates that more people were beginning to acknowledge the community as functional members of society with human rights.

3.3 To examine how the media used propaganda as a means of creating moral panic throughout the AIDS epidemic Early in the 1980s, various newspapers published shocking headlines and features which were predominantly biased and used as a propaganda tool to be directed at the British public. This resulted in the creation of a moral panic during the first decade of the AIDS epidemic.

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14 January 2018 ‘The Times’ ran multiple headlines throughout 1983 to 1990: “AIDS is here” (Fallowell, 1983), “The Spread of AIDS is a ‘moral’ Chernobyl’” (Prentice, 1986), “A plague in all the houses” (Kington, 1987), “AIDS epidemic is ‘out of control’” (Prentice, 1987), “Racing to kill and killer” (Prentice, 1987) and “Edinburgh ‘in the grip of silent HIV epidemic’” (Gill, 1990). It could be argued that these headings were clearly used to incite fear amongst readers, causing a subsequent divide between AIDS victims and the rest of society.

Many institutions ran stories which falsely accused the gay community of promiscuous behaviour. One story, published by the Daily Mail in 1985 under the headline “Haunted by the epidemic of fear”, claims that “the streets were monopolised by thousands of ‘cruising’ homosexuals looking for instant sexual gratification”, and “AIDS is a curse visited upon us by the Sodom and Gomorrah society that the past two liberated decades have allowed" (Gordon, 1985). Whilst newspaper publications used negative terminology when describing the AIDS epidemic, it clear that they also cast an equally negative light on the practices and lifestyles of homosexuals.

Throughout the entire duration of the AIDS epidemic, ‘The Times’, the ‘Daily Mail’, the ‘Daily Express’ and the ‘Daily Mirror’ made constant references to the plague and the black death.

Moreover, completely false accusations that the AIDS epidemic was, in fact, a ‘gay plague’ were made, therefore generating a fear of homosexuals amongst heterosexuals.

The ‘Daily Mail’ described the disease as “the greatest plague since the Black Death” (Deans, 1986) and said that AIDS “will dwarf medical disasters like the black plague, smallpox and typhoid” (Daily Mail, 1987). The ‘Daily Mirror’ claimed that “It will kill MORE people than the Black Death, MORE than smallpox, MORE than typhoid and MORE than the Great Plague” (Daily Mirror, 1987). The ‘Daily Express’ used the slogan “Gay Plague” (O’Flaherty, 1985) and said that “Vigilants fear over gay plague” (Gibson, 1986). Newspaper headlines initially sensationalised reports of the AIDS epidemic and gay lifestyles respectively, before eventually linking the two together, therefore added ‘fuel to the fire’ in the persecution of homosexuals.

Other extreme headlines from ‘Daily Mail’ included: “Haunted by the epidemic of fear” (Gordon, 1985), “Myths that scare even the doctors” (Illman, 1985) and “AIDS: NOW IT’S CRISIS ACTION” (Deans, 1986). Use of the word “haunted” suggests that the AIDS epidemic would be staying with the British public for a duration of time; even the word “myth” makes the disease seem otherworldly and beyond medical control, thus exacerbating public fear.

The ‘Daily Mirror’ served to heighten these fears when they decided to publish the firstperson account of an AIDS victim in 1985. It read, “An AIDS victim begged doctors yesterday: ‘Don’t let me die, I am living hour to hour. It’s a nightmare. I know I am on my way out but I don’t want to die’” (Palmer, 1985). Although it could be argued that the account may have helped to humanise AIDS victims and their struggles, others could suggest that it only helped to portray the severity of the disease, instil more fear and widen the divide.

In 1986, ‘Daily Express’ journalist Robert Gibson suggested that the government feared the gay community. Headlined “Vigilantes fear over gay plague”, the feature read “THE GOVERNMENT is bracing itself for the backlash against homosexuals over the plague-like

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14 January 2018 spread of AIDS……..Government sources say infected gays may fight back by having sex with bisexuals to spread the disease” (Gibson, 1986). This idea was ultimately backed up by the ‘Daily Mail’, when a journalist wrote that “Ministers are simply terrified of being labelled ‘anti-gay’ or ‘sexist’” (Daily Mail, 1986).

In the same year, the ‘Daily Express’ enlarged a pull quote from a feature which read “never make love again. It’s harsh I know. It’s like giving someone a life sentence. But they have to stop” (Dover, 1986). In this instance, ‘they’ refers to homosexuals, with the publication remaining ignorant to the fact that AIDS can also be transmitted between heterosexual couples.

In 1986, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Basil Hulme, was quoted in a feature published in ‘The Times’ to have said that “The Spread of AIDS is like a ‘moral Chernobyl’, and the promotion of condoms is a ‘counsel of despair’” (Prentice, 1986), which promoted a biased religious viewpoint that influenced Catholic audiences.

Even as late at 1990, there were still tensions and fears surrounding intimacy within relationships, both heterosexual and homosexual, which is evident in a ‘Daily Express’ advertisement which stated “YOUR NEXT SEXUAL PARTNER COULD BE THAT VERY SPECIAL PERSON. THE ONE WHO GIVES YOU AIDS” (Dover, 1990).

A ‘Daily Mirror’ front page spread featuring gay footballer Justin Fashanu in 1992 generated panic for football fans when an interview with Fashanu stated that “an AIDS epidemic could devastate the soccer world….. they’re all sleeping with the same girls” (Wiechula, 1992). As a prominent figure within the sporting world, it could be said that the ‘Daily Mirror’ used this as means of propaganda to scare the vast number of UK football fans into believing that the AIDS epidemic had even spread to high-profile figures in society and that no one was safe.

Though media outlets initially reported the AIDS epidemic as an exclusively homosexual disease, multiple publications made it evident that the disease could be transmitted to heterosexual men and women, thus worsening existing public fears of the dangers of sexual activity.

3.4 To assess if reporting of HIV/AIDS by the media has altered perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community in the UK Towards the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, it was clear that different media outlets within the UK had begun to demonise and blame the gay community for the AIDS epidemic.

By 1986, ‘The Times’ were beginning to change their attitudes towards the way in which they would publish stories surrounding the crisis. One headline read “Why gays must not create a new ghetto”, with the feature reporting whether or not homosexuals are to blame with the AIDS crisis, “not, of course, in the homophobic sense, as a punishment for perversion, but in the extraordinary promiscuity which some homosexuals indulge” (Levin, 1986).

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The publication also started to run stories where it was suggested that gays were at blame for heterosexuals becoming infected with AIDS. One story, headlined “British dentists won’t follow rules that will save patients’ lives”, went on to state that “in 1986, David Acer, a promiscuous homosexual, developed AIDS. A year later Kimberley Bergalis, 19, and one of his regular patients visited him to have two molars removed. Three years later, Bergalis, a pretty blonde student, and a virgin, was diagnosed as HIV positive” (Mangold, 1993).

Subsequently, anxieties were created surrounding patients being treated by gay medical professionals as people began to fear contraction.

A 1989 article from ‘The Times’ suggested that no heterosexual people had AIDS and claimed: “the disease has barely touched ordinary, heterosexual Britons, so Neil Lyndon asks if the threat is exaggerated, or merely delayed” (Lyndon, 1989). The use of the word ordinary suggests that if you were not a heterosexual at the time, you were not in fact considered a normal British citizen which therefore depicts the prejudice during a time before LGBTQ+ liberation in the 1960s and 1970s.

That same year ‘The Times’ also asked the question, “for seven years did the Government ignore the advice of experts and pour cash into a campaign aimed at Britain’s heterosexuals?” under the headline “AIDS: The making of a £900m myth” (Harris, 1993) thus blaming other minority groups for government expenditure. This sense of blame was a prominent theme towards the end of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, with members of the LGBTQ+ community being used as scapegoats.

In 1986 the Daily Mail ran a story on James Anderton (the chief of police at the time) where he is quoted to have said, whilst discussing the epidemic “those at risk include homosexuals, drug addicts, and prostitutes, were ‘swirling around in a human cesspit of their own making’”. He was quoted as going on to say, “why do homosexuals freely engage in sodomy and other obnoxious sexual practices knowing the dangers involved?” (Hensfield, 1986), otherwise highlighting a change in the acceptance of homosexual behaviour. Anderton was in a position of authority and for this reason, his opinions were arguably echoed throughout the police force.

The fight for liberation on the age of gay consent in Scotland was paused due to the spread of AIDS. The Daily Mail printed that “moves to relax the law on homosexuality in Scotland have been halted by the government following a wave of protest” and that the “Scottish age of consent must stay” (Greig, 1991). The reason that many people were under the pretence that the age of consent must stay the same was potentially due to the negative way in which homosexual people were portrayed in the media throughout the epidemic.

Comedian Little John had a weekly column in the ‘Daily Mail’ and belittled the gay community in 1997 when he joked about a job advertisement for a lesbian and gay alcoholic support officer in London. Likely reflecting the attitude of the time, his column read: “Can someone please explain how the problems of homosexual alcoholics differ from the problems of heterosexual alcoholics, or even celibate alcoholics, for that matter. At least lesbians don’t suffer from brewer’s droop. Is there an epidemic of drunken homosexuals poking their eyes out with little cocktail umbrellas” (John, 1997).

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The Princess Royal brewed a storm when she was quoted in the Daily Express in 1988 under the headline “ANNE IN AIDS ROW WITH GAYS”. It was suggested that she had described AIDS to be a “‘classic own goal, scored by the human race on itself’” and “a ‘self-inflicted wound’ that only served to remind man of his fallibility” (Dover, 1988). These reiterated previous harmful ideas that homosexual behaviour was unnatural and heavily frowned upon, furthermore isolating the LGBTQ+ community as a result.

3.5 To determine how the influence of high-profile figures contributed towards a change in public attitudes to HIV/AIDS According to ‘The Times’ in 1988, Princess Diana was deemed an ‘AIDS pioneer’ under the headline “AIDS pioneer praises Princess’s gesture”. The feature went on to quote AIDS discoverer Professor Luc Montagnier, writing “It is very important that those in the public eye are seen to be involving themselves in supporting the campaign against AIDS and efforts on behalf of AIDS patients” (Jacobson, 1988) suggesting that multi-million pound campaigns ran by the British Government were not enough.

One of the first noticeable events which shunned the myths that people were to quarantine AIDS victims was in the 1980s was when Princess Diana shook hands with a victim of the disease. Described in a 1996 article published in the Daily Express as “a gesture which went a long way to dashing the stigma of the disease” under the headline “DEFIANT DIANA’S BATTLE ON AIDS” (Jobson 1996). An article pulled from a 2011 edition of ‘The Telegraph’ also highlighted the work of Diana, saying that, with the handshake, “she showed in a single gesture that this was a condition needing our compassion and understanding, not our fear and ignorance” (Pemberton, 2011).

Princess Diana was heavily publicised throughout the 1980s and the 1990s and she cleverly used her position and the media attention that she had to campaign for change. In 1991, ‘The Times’ ran another story “Princess seeks compassion for AIDS sufferers” which included this quote from Diana herself: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: heaven knows they need it,’ she told a conference in London” (Prentice 1991). Diana cemented the idea that the general public needed to apply more empathy to the victims and tried to close the divide between homosexuals and heterosexuals that was created by the AIDS epidemic media coverage.

It wasn’t just Diana who contributed to changes in public attitudes. In the ‘Daily Express’, Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor was reported to have “kissed Thomas Fabregas, who is HIV positive, at an AIDS conference earlier this year”. This photograph, just like that of Diana, turned her into a “potent symbol for the massive worldwide campaign which surrounds the illness” (Dover, 1992) adding another high-profile celebrity to the growing list of supporters.

American President Bill Clinton featured in a full-page spread in ‘The Times’ in 1994 through which he was deemed to have paid tribute to an AIDS crusader. It is claimed that he said, “she had ‘confronted the challenge of AIDS in her own life and lost her beloved daughter to AIDS at a time when our Government and our county were too indifferent to this illness and the people who had it’” (Whittell, 1994). Clinton’s acknowledgement suggests that the 13

14 January 2018 government didn’t do enough about the epidemic and the majority of the victims that had it, homosexual people, we’re not given the support they deserved. Clinton seemingly shifted some of the blame from homosexual people onto the government.

In more recent times, newspapers have chosen to run features which honoured high-profile figures who spoke out about AIDS. ‘The Guardian’ highlighted facts that suggest when Charlie Sheen came out as HIV positive, “Google-related searches containing the words “HIV” rocketed”. The article goes on to praise the likes of US basketballer Magic Johnson, who himself developed AIDS in the early 1980s. He is referenced to have said, “it can happen to anybody, even me", which shook the nation. Rock Hudson is also admired: after admitting to be HIV positive, “the announcement was considered by doctors to be the single most important event in the history of the epidemic. US coverage reportedly tripled, forever changing the public perception of AIDS patients, not to mention gay men” (Ramaswamy, 2016).

The New Yorker in 2014 reiterated the praise to Magic Johnson, claiming that “within a month of Magic Johnson’s announcement, the number of people seeking HIV. tests in New York City rose by sixty percent. A similarly sharp increase was noted in many cities throughout the nation”. This infers that it would have been enough for Johnson just to admit that he had AIDS, “by living, he did much more, proving that an HIV infection was no longer an automatic death sentence” (Specter, 2014).

4.0 Conclusions & Recommendations 4.1 Conclusions Prior to the 1980s, the political and social factors of sexual health predominantly fell on the shoulders of women. The introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act and the contraceptive pill that followed resulted in fewer worries about pregnancy and ultimately led to more people having sex. Previous generations had never had to worry about sexual health before, so people remained ignorant of the potential dangers that they could face. The 1967 Sexual Offences Act decriminalised homosexual acts, though not immediately leading to changes in opinions of gay men and women. Despite growing support from certain political parties and trade union groups, the movement was opposed by members of the Christian faith and as a then-current trend, when considering homosexuality/homosexuals, heterosexuals were encouraged to feel sympathy for them rather than empathise with them.

The media used propaganda to scare the public and create a moral panic of AIDS itself, whilst slandering the allegedly sordid lifestyles of homosexuals, ultimately linking the two and generating a divide between heterosexual and homosexual members of British society.

This was amplified by media accounts of heterosexual people being infected by the ‘not exclusively homosexual disease’ AIDS, thus isolating the LGBTQ+ community further. Any positive political movements which surrounded the community were seemingly stunted by the epidemic and it took high profile celebrities such as Princess Diana to alter public perceptions, encouraging empathy over sympathy or even fear. Other celebrities such as Magic Johnson were crucial in changing public perceptions of HIV and AIDS, certifying that

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14 January 2018 AIDS was not a death sentence and reducing fears of infection. Moreover, the LGBTQ+ community in the UK became less isolated and subsequently, more positive public perceptions began to follow.

4.2 Limitations Whilst compiling research, it was clear that in order to gain a true understanding as to whether high-profile figures did in fact change public perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community, it would be necessary to carry out primary research. This primary research would have included a questionnaire directed towards AIDS victims who lived during the 1980s. The results of these questionnaires could have provided insights into the reality of the disease and the feelings of the victims who were slandered in the media. Interviews with these victims could have also gathered more information that may not have been taken into consideration whilst planning the content of the report. However, this would have proved to be a momentous task, as to gather personal accounts of AIDS sufferers during this period would have taken massive amounts of effort and time in order to firstly locate participants, and also to gather enough information to give a reliable overall picture.

4.3 Recommendations Throughout the researching process for this report, it has become apparent that more primary research should be included in order to provide first-hand accounts of AIDS victims and members of the LGBTQ+ community who lived through the liberation. Due to the nature of the product which is to be developed in semester two, the need to produce extensive amounts of reliable research is not paramount. Interviews with AIDS victims who have contracted the disease in more recent years could shed light on how attitudes have changed towards the illness and those suffering from it.

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5.0 References 5.1 Journals

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14 January 2018 Blair, T. (2017). Safe Sex in the 1970s: Community Practitioners on the Eve of AIDS. American Journal of Public Health, 107(6), p.872.

Grimley, M. (2009). “Law, Morality and Secularisation: The Church of England and the Wolfenden Report, 1954–1967,” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge University Press, 60(4), pp. 725–741.

Hall, J. C. (1971) “The Nullity of Marriage Act 1971,” The Cambridge Law Journal, Cambridge University Press, 29(2), pp. 208–210.

Hellar, M. (1980). The gay bowel syndrome: A common problem of homosexual patients in the emergency department. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 9(9), pp.487-493.

Iyer, P. and Aggleton, P. (2014). Seventy years of sex education in Health Education Journal: a critical review. Health Education Journal, 74(1), pp.3-15.

Whipple, A. (2010). Speaking for Whom? The 1971 Festival of Light and the Search for the ‘Silent Majority’. Contemporary British History, 24(3), pp.319-339.

5.2 Websites Beddoe, N. (2016). Documenting Dissent | Humphry Berkeley 1926-94. [online] Documentingdissent.org.uk. Available at: http://www.documentingdissent.org.uk/humphryberkeley/ [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Birminghampride.com. (2017). 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality... 19672017. [online] Available at: http://www.birminghampride.com/news/50-years-since-thedecriminalisation-of-homosexuality-1967-2017 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Burgess, R. (n.d.). CHE > Our history. [online] C-h-e.org.uk. Available at: http://www.c-he.org.uk/history.shtml [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Cafe, R. (2011). How the contraceptive pill changed Britain. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15984258 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Feather, S. (n.d.). A brief history of the Gay Liberation Front, 1970-73. [online] Libcom.org.

Available at: https://libcom.org/library/brief-history-gay-liberation-front-1970-73 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Hebblethwaite, C. (2011). How the Joy of Sex was illustrated. [online] BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15309357 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Legislation.gov.uk. (2017). Abortion Act 1967. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/87/section/1 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Legislation.gov.uk. (2018). Divorce Reform Act 1969. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1969/55/contents/enacted [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

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Legislation.gov.uk. (1967). Sexual Offences Act 1967. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/60/contents [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Pemberton, M. (2011). Removing the stigma from HIV and Aids. [online] Telegraph.co.uk.

Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/8916687/Removing-the-stigma-fromHIV-and-Aids.html [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].

Shariatmadari, D. (2015). The quiet revolution: why Britain has more gay MPs than anywhere else. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/13/quiet-revolution-britain-more-gay-mpsthan-anywhere-else-lgbt [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

Specter, M. (2014). How Magic Johnson Fought the AIDS Epidemic. [online] The New Yorker.

Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-magic-johnson-foughtthe-aids-epidemic [Accessed 6 Jan. 2018].

Tate. (2018). ‘Art & the Sixties, exhibition themes, Swinging Sixties’ | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/art-60s-was-tomorrow/artsixties-exhibition-themes/art-sixties-5 [Accessed 1 Jan. 2018].

5.3 Books Cant, B. and Hemmings, S. (2010). Radical Records. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, pp.1-100.

Carter, D. (2013). Stonewall. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp.1-100.

Cook, M. and Cocks, H. (2007). A gay history of Britain. Oxford [etc.]: Greenwood World, pp.1-100.

Robinson, L. (2007). Gay Men and the Left in Post-war Britain: How the Personal Got Political (Critical Labour Movement Studies). Manchester University Press, pp.60-80.

Weeks, J. (1990). Coming out. London: Quartet, pp.1-100.

5.4 Online Dictionaries Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). AIDS | Definition of AIDS in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/aids [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). heterosexual | Definition of heterosexual in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/heterosexual [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

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14 January 2018 Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). HIV | Definition of HIV in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hiv [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). homosexual | Definition of homosexual in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/homosexual [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). LGBTQ | Definition of LGBTQ in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/lgbtq [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). media | Definition of media in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/media [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). propaganda | Definition of propaganda in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/propaganda [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (n.d.). theoretical | Definition of theoretical in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/theoretical [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018].

5.5 Newspapers Deans, J. (1986). Aids: Now It's Crisis Action. Daily Mail, 4th November, p.1.

Deans, J. (1999). Blair's Cabinet is full of gays, says Mugabe. Daily Mail, 13th November, p.2.

Daily Mail (1986). Crisis point for AIDS, 29th November, p.6.

Daily Mail (1987). A Worldwide AIDS epidemic will dwarf medical disasters like the black plague, smallpox and typhoid, America's health chief has warned, 31 st January, p.9.

Daily Mail (1988). Aids menace is 'spreading'. 4th October, p.2.

Daily Mirror (1987). AIDS will wipe out millions, 31 st January, p.2.

Doughty, S. (1996). Aids is no risk to most, admit gays. Daily Mail, 20th June, p.2.

Dover, C. (1986). MINISTER FOR WAR ON AIDS. Daily Express, 17th October, p.1.

Dover, C. (1988). ANNE IN AIDS ROW WITH GAYS. Daily Express, 27th January, p.1.

Dover, C. (1990). Are we pushing a myth about AIDS?. Daily Express, 19th March, p.9.

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14 January 2018 Dover, C. (1992). AIDS: The hype and the reality. Daily Express, 1st December, p.8.

Fallowell, D. (1983). AIDS is here. The Times, 27th July, p.8.

Gibson, R. (1986). Vigilantes fear over gay plague. Daily Express, 21st November, p.2.

Gill, K. (1990). Edinburgh 'in grip of silent HIV epidemic'. The Times, 5th June, p.5.

Gordon, G. (1985). Haunted by the epidemic of fear. Daily Mail, 3rd October, p.6.

Greig, G. (1991). Move to change gays law halted. Daily Mail, 5th December, p.9.

Harris, P. (1993). AIDS: The making of a ÂŁ900m myth. Daily Mail, 7th May, pp.26-27.

Henfield, M. (1986). Police chief in AIDS fury. Daily Mail, 12th December, p.1.

Illman, J. (1985). Myths that scare even the doctors. Daily Mail, 17th January, p.6.

Jacobson, P. (1988). Aids pioneer praises Princess' gesture. The Times, 9th November, p.10.

Jobson, R. and Wigg, D. (1996). Diana's the champ says Liza, but some say she's a chump.

Daily Express, 26th June, p.3.

Jobson, R. (1996). DEFIANT DIANA'S BATTLE ON AIDS. Daily Express, 25 th June, p.1.

John, L. (1997). Gay alcoholics? Now that's really scraping the barrel. Daily Mail, 13th November, p.11.

Kington, M. (1987). A plague in all the houses. The Times, 23rd January, p.20.

Levin, B. (1986). Why gays must not create a new ghetto. The Times, 28th April, p.12.

Lyndon, N. (1988). Has anyone here got Aids?. The Times, 25th January, p.11.

Mangold, T. (1993). British dentists won't follow rules that will save patients' lives. The Times, 22nd July, p.15.

Middleton, G. (1987). Queen's concern over AIDS plague. Daily Mail, 20th February, p.1.

O'Flaherty, M. (1985). Warning over AIDS, the lurking killer bug set to rival heroin. Daily Express, 6th August, p.2.

Palmer, J. (1985). Heartbreak plea of AIDS victim. Daily Mirror, 8th February, p.1.

Prentice, T. (1986). Spread a 'moral Chernobyl'. The Times, 13th December, p.3.

Prentice, T. (1991). Princess seeks compassion for Aids sufferers. The Times, 23rd April, p.20.

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14 January 2018

Ramaswamy, C. (2016). The Sheen effect: breaking the HIV taboo, one celebrity at a time;.

The Guardian. 28th February The Times (1986). Love in a chilling climate, 5th November, p.14.

Prentice, T. (1987). Aids epidemic is 'out of control'. The Times, 1st June, p.3.

Prentice, T. (1987). Racing to kill a killer. The Times, 16th April, p.15.

Prentice, T. (1988). 25% of homosexuals 'carrying Aids virus'. The Times, 4th October, p.3.

The Times (1983). Gays told of festival Aids risk, 25 th July, p.3.

Whittell, G. (1994). Clinton pays tribute to Aids crusader. The Times, 5th December, p.12.

Wiechula, F. (1992). AIDS. Daily Mirror, 29th January, p.1.

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