On World AIDS Day, President Biden emphasized the need to combat “stigma” and “misinformation” in a speech delivered at the White House. He stated, “We stand united in the fight against this epidemic,” underscoring the importance of the issue.
Reflecting on his time as a senator, Biden recalled the challenges faced during the peak of the epidemic, including the stigma and misinformation that overshadowed the government’s failure to recognize the dignity of LGBTQ lives and the severity of the AIDS crisis.
The President reiterates the urgent need for government action to address the AIDS crisis and support affected communities
The HIV epidemic had devastating effects on the LGBTQ community during the 1980s and 1990s, leaving deep emotional scars and prompting urgent demands for government intervention from pro-LGBTQ activists. Advocacy groups like the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) emerged during this period, employing civil disobedience to highlight governmental neglect regarding AIDS.
Biden criticized the government’s inaction, stating, “It caused serious harm. It compounded pain and trauma for a community watching a generation of loved ones and friends perish. It was horribly, horribly wrong.” He also acknowledged the resilience of advocates, survivors, families, and allies who transformed their grief into activism. “Their loss into determination, their anger, into a movement that’s literally changing the world,” he said.
In his speech, Biden highlighted the presence of “sections of” the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the White House, emphasizing that it holds “stories of precious lives cut too short.” A report released earlier this year by the United Nations agency focused on ending the AIDS epidemic, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), revealed a feasible path to eliminating the epidemic by 2030.
According to UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, the report’s findings clearly outline this path: “The data and real-world examples in the report make it very clear what that path is. It is not a mystery. It is a choice. Some leaders are already following the path — and succeeding,” she stated in the report’s executive summary.
