He also signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The "liberal president" was responsible for " Don't Ask Don't Tell," which permitted gay soldiers to stay in the military if they didn't publicly admit their identity. While Clinton's language about the gay community might have been softer, his legislative priorities were similarly punitive. There was something wrong with the community, not the medical establishment.įast forward to the election of President Bill Clinton. "And I once called on somebody, 'Well, change your behavior!' "If the behavior you’re using is prone to cause AIDs, change the behavior!' Next thing I know, one of these ACT UP groups is saying, 'Bush ought to change his behavior!' You can’t talk about it rationally!"īush's message was clear: AIDS was a personal, moral failure of the gay community. "It’s one of the few diseases where behavior matters," Bush said at the time. Bush famously responded to a question about the AIDS crisis during a presidential debate. Or consider the way former President George H.W.
"I think, all things being equal, that it is best for a youngster to grow up in a household with a mother, a father and other children," Dukakis said at the time.ĭukakis later went on to say that an anti-discrimination executive order, specifically for the LGBTQ community, would be "redundant."
Later, in 1988, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis argued that heterosexual parents simply made better parents. "Nancy and I thank you for your support," Reagan allegedly - and curtly - wrote back. "It is incumbent on your administration to direct the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health to begin efforts to find the cause and treatment for this disease.” Marcus Conant, one of the first physicians to identify the disease, reportedly wrote to President Reagan a letter. “Dear President Reagan, I have all these patients and they are dying and no one’s doing anything," Dr. In the '80s, AIDS advocates criticized then President Ronald Reagan for his indifferent response to the AIDS crisis: It's a radical shift on a presidential level. A radical embrace Credit: scott olson/Getty Images