With consistent, adequate treatment, people with HIV have a life expectancy that is nearly normal. However, because HIV often affects the most vulnerable people in our society, getting that consistent treatment remains a real and important challenge. 30 years after And the Band Played On was first published, HIV/AIDS is now often viewed as a chronic illness, rather than the terminal diagnosis it was in the 1980s. For those born after the first AIDS deaths occurred in the US, it can be hard to imagine the fear, denial, stigma, and confusion that accompanied the early AIDS epidemic. Randy Shilts’ And the Band Played On, is a classic work of investigative journalism that chronicles the response of the government, media, medical/scientific community, gay community, and society at large as the epidemic of AIDS unfolded. He portrays the prescient heroes that recognized the danger of AIDS early, but who also paid great personal and professional prices to confront the crises. Ultimately, the book shows the neglect of the early crisis by the government and the media, the battle within the gay community about the “appropriate” response to AIDS, and the apathy of society at large when AIDS was viewed as a “gay” disease.

(more…)