cosmic-noir:

theboyprincessdiaries:

thesylverlining:

iamayoungfeminist:

queerqueerspawn:

highpriestesse:

highpriestesse:

horrifying fun fact of the day: so greenwich village, which is the neighborhood in nyc where the stonewall riots took place and which was a v important gay center from like the 50s-80s, is now super swanky and full of touristy boutiques and expensive apartments and stuff. st vincent’s, the local hospital which had the first aids ward on the east coast, closed a couple years ago and is being replaced with luxury condos. all of this is sad enough, BUT i just found out that one of the reasons it’s so gentrified now is that the aids crisis was really awesome for real estate. ppl were dying in thousands and leaving empty apartments behind, which their landlords would then rent at higher prices until only rich ppl could afford to live there 🙂

elaphaia said: also during the aids crisis landlords would shut their heat off in the winter knowing it would kill ppl so they could then rent 4 higher 🙂

Reminder that the cishet dominated government didn’t just ignore the effects of HIV/AIDS because of how concentrated the deaths were in other communities because they hate us, but also because they materially benefited from it – because they owned most of the buildings, because our partners and other kin had no legal right to our possessions, and because they commodified and monopolized antiretrovirals to bilk us.

Never forget ACT UP NYC that consisted of marginalized members of the LGBT community, many of whom were dying of AIDS. All of whom fought hard and valiantly against AIDS and HIV/AIDS discrimination. Never never forget about the brave men and women who smuggled drugs for AIDS patients into the US because the FDA was taking too long to approve drugs here and people were dying. 

Never forget that people were often kicked out of their housing because they were unable to afford rent and treatment, because their partner died, or because of outright discrimination. 

Enjoy your luxury apartments. I hope you remember the men and women who died so you could live there.  

Just remembered Mimi’s line in RENT. “It’s nothing/they turned off my heat/and I’m a little weak on my feet.”

Jesus. I know this was before a lot of tumblr’s time, but we can’t forget this shit.

Let’s also never ever leave race out of this conversation. It wasn’t just any queers who were the most targeted, it was Black trans women. It wasn’t just any queers who stood up and fought back at stonewall, it was Black trans women.

Dan Savage may be rich and well respected, HRC may be a corporate giant but who is STILL out there fighting to survive, getting murdered and locked up because they dare to exist and resist? BLACK TRANS WOMEN.

I see a lot of posts on queer history lately that don’t follow through to the presence. You know why we still talk about AIDS today? I’m sorry to say this but it has A LOT to do with the fact that not even cis heteronormative white men were safe. They were dying too and for the first time, they were forced to be lumped in with the type of brutality, ostrization, and public humiliation that we, as a culture, HAVE ALWAYS doled out generously to Black people, ESPECIALLY BLACK TRANS WOMEN.

Can we have a conversation where we connect the AIDS epidemic to forced medical experiments on Black people that the United States CONTINUES TO THIS DAY to perpetrate? Can we talk about how racists STILL blame the genesis of the AIDS virus on Africans fucking monkies so God punished them and the rest of the “heathens” with AIDS. Can we talk about how AIDS could be entirely controlled, if not eradicated entirely, if it weren’t for US imperialism and it’s world-destroying inhuman lust for greed and power? Let’s talk about how the AIDS epidemic IS NOT OVER! How it still rages strong in the US, especially in homeless communities, communities of color and other groups of people put white supremacist system has targeted for genocide. How it still persists in many, many other countries abroad and we pretend as if it doesn’t exist unless “activists” like Bono can capitalize on it.

I’m sick and fucking tired of these half assed discussions of AIDS, no disrespect intended to the original poster this is about white queers in general right now so if the OP isn’t white this isn’t about them.

White queers, DO BETTER. Stop fucking pretending that AIDS is about you!!!! Talk about how when we honor those lost to AIDS we MUST honor the Black trans women who were the very first to stand up and fight, who DIED so you can sit on your couch and shed a tear for all those fucking whitewashed Harvey Milk movies.

AIDS IS NOT GONE. AIDS IS NOT OVER. AIDS STILL DESTROYS THOUSANDS OF LIVES EVERY DAY AND THE FACT THAT IT HASN’T YET BEEN CONTAINED IS A STRATEGIC ACT OF IMPERIALIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST WARFARE.

BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER. BLACK TRANS WOMEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN / ARE STILL THE BACK BONE OF AMERICAN QUEER RIGHTS AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT MORE. NEVER, EVER FORGET.

No discussion of AIDS should ever happen without also centering the lives and resistance of Black trans women. Period. The end.

NYC is a gentrified and hateful horror show that they built on the backs of the dying and dead.