Heterosexual Martyrs and Gay Saints: Did AIDS Coverage Clear the Way for LGBT Equality?
At Religion Dispatches, Diane Winston chronicles the shift in attitudes toward gay Americans by highlighting the media’s role in changing the public’s perception of AIDS. “At the outset of the crisis, mainstream news outlets had marginalized AIDS coverage,” but as gays responded in public and “heterosexual caregivers became involved, real life caught up to religious platitudes and many Christians reconsidered their position,” writes Winston.