Playing on: Introduction

I spent most of yesterday reading 'And the Band Played On', which is an incredible history of people's reaction to AIDS between 1980 and 1984. It has a wealth of information, is totally engrossing, and is full of really interesting ideas, some almost in passing (there's about half a page about the role masculinity played in gay male culture). You should read it, go and get out of the library - or you can borrow my copy if you live in Wellington.

Generally it was an indictment on - well almost everyone. There were a lot of individuals doing very good work, but every institution, the Regan administration, blood banks, and gay organisations, completely fucking failed.

Over the next few days I'm going to write a series of posts about the implications for today of how the band played. I'll probably focus on the responses of the gay community, because that's where I think the most important lessons for actual people are. The fact that the government is most interested in re-election, and businesses would rather make money than ensure people live isn't really news.