The ‘Gay Plague’: Community responses to AIDS in South Africa 1982-1987
Date
2023-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
South Africa became the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1990s, and still has the highest HIV rate in the world. Consequently, much has been written about HIV/AIDS in South Africa across a variety of academic disciplines, though with very little emphasis on the first five years (1982-1987) in which the epidemic first manifested in South Africa. This thesis explores these early years from the perspective of the “gay community” in which the virus was first identified, while also unpacking what is meant by community in this context. How did gay organisations, activists and individuals respond, rally and organised in a time of fear, oppression, ignorance and upheaval? Initial responses to AIDS fell on fledgling, mostly white, gay community organisations, and a few healthcare workers. By analysing the services and programmes initiated from this (admittedly disparate and problematic) group, and by placing these responses within the broader context of AIDS internationally, and apartheid locally, we can see a very specific and complex local response develop. This laid the groundwork for what was to become the much larger-scale gay and HIV/AIDS organising of the 1990s, which is generally where most researchers pick up the thread. Certainly, no previous research has sought to include all aspects of this organising, including fundraising, counselling, the gay press, public education initiatives, and caregiving. An intensive audit of the relevant material in the collections of the GALA Queer Archive in Johannesburg, including new additions, has contributed to a more in-depth understanding of this time period.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts (by coursework and research report) in the Department of History, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in 2023.
Keywords
Gay community, GALA Queer Archive in Johannesburg, South Africa, Gay organisations, activists and individuals, HIV/AIDS pandemic, UCTD
Citation
Chernis, Linda. (2023). The ‘Gay Plague’: Community responses to AIDS in South Africa 1982-1987. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/39893