SUDDENLY, his face could change. From seeming calm, the brown eyes benevolent and almost shy, it twisted into a furious grimace. Out of the grimace came one scream: "PLAGUE!" That stopped their stupidity, as the volunteers he had organised squabbled with each other. That focused minds. And he had plenty to yell about. The AIDS epidemic that had struck America in 1981 was being largely ignored, while thousands of gay men died. The right-wing Reagan government would not touch a "gay disease". Medical research was unfunded and half-hearted. Yet millions of people, not only gays, were at risk. It was pressure from the organisations he founded, especially ACT UP in 1987, that caused HIV/AIDS to be treated like the emergency it was. Research was speeded up exponentially, and government took notice. The ruckus he caused made many people loathe him. But it saved lives.
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