‘When AIDS Was Funny’ Uncovers Sickening Stain On Reagan Legacy


Previously unheard tapes from White House press briefings are the subject of a new documentary short. “When AIDS was Funny” is featured exclusively on Vanity Fair’s website. Prepare to be really angry.

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Screenshot from “When AIDS Was Funny” via Vanity Fair

The History Behind the Tapes

In 1982, the virus that would later be known as HIV was still referred to as “the gay plague.” Little was known about how the virus was spread or how the disease it caused, AIDS, could be prevented. This lack of education, which would continue for some time, stemmed from a refusal by the federal government under the Reagan Administration to address the growing problem.

Ronald Reagan was helped along in his candidacy in no small part by the Moral Majority, which sprang into being in 1979 and boasted of millions of dollars to spend on campaign contributions. The evangelical Political Action Committee’s very public leader, Jerry Falwell, avidly supported Reagan’s bid for the presidency and the Moral Majority is widely credited with Reagan’s success in both the 1980 and 1984 elections.

At the beginning of 1982, 265 Americans had died from a disease the president had still not acknowledged. The vast majority of victims were reported to be gay men. No one in the Reagan administration would speak publicly about the disease. In July, the term AIDS was first used, and by the end of 1982, 853 more people were dead.

Reagan’s friend, Reverend Falwell, was quite vocal in his stance on the AIDS crisis.

“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals. It is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”

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Rev. Falwell on the success of the Moral Majority: “It’s like the blacks said in the 1960s…(but) this time, we’re going to win.” Image via USA Today

The Tapes: 1982 – 1984

The tapes begin in October of 1982 and feature Larry Speakes, press secretary under the Reagan administration, taking questions from the White House press. One reporter, Lester Kinsolving, a conservative who was in no way advocating for AIDS patients or the gay community due to any gay-friendly stance, asked about Reagan’s response to the growing crisis of AIDS.

Kinsolving: “It’s a pretty serious thing. 1 in every 3 people that get this have died and I wonder if the president was aware of this?”

Speakes: “I don’t have it…do you?” 

The disease was receiving so little attention that, despite valiant efforts by gay leaders and some medical professionals, funding provided for research and public education about the disease remained heartbreakingly scarce. Federal funding was less than 1/9th of what was spent on Legionnaire’s Disease during the time period, although less than 50 people died of Legionnaire’s disease in that year.

In 1983, 2,304 more people had died of the disease, and still there had been no acknowledgement by President Reagan. Kinsolving can be heard at a press briefing that year asking again if the president had any plans to address what had long since become an epidemic.

Kinsolving: “Larry, does the president think it might help if he suggested the gays cut down on their cruising?”

Speakes: (to the rest of the press pool) “I told you, didn’t I? Told you.”

Kinsolving: “I didn’t hear your answer, Larry.”

Speakes: “I just was acknowledging your interest in this subject.”

In 1984, another 4,281 people died and more than 200,000 people had been exposed to the virus. Still, there was no public announcement, no acknowledgment of the disease, and only $12 million in federal funding was allocated to research on AIDS. Kinsolving continued to ask questions only to be met with derisive laughter and insinuations about his own sexuality.

Kinsolving: “Is he going to do anything, Larry?”

Speakes: “Lester, I’ve not heard him express anything, sorry.”

Kinsolving: “You mean he has no…expressed no opinion about this epidemic?”

Speakes: “No, but I must confess I haven’t asked him about it.”

Kinsolving: “Will you ask him, Larry?”

Speakes: “Have you been checked?”

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Screenshot via Vanity Fair

The Implications

President Reagan would provide no public speech on the disease until May 31, 1987. By that time, more than 16,000 people had died of the disease. By the end of Ronald Reagan’s terms in office, more than 115,000 people had been exposed to the virus and more than 70,000 people were dead.

Today, 1.2 million people in the United States live with HIV and there have been nearly 700,000 deaths due to the disease. How many of those could have been prevented had our federal government under Ronald Reagan acted sooner?

Homophobia and manipulation of the party in office by the Religious Right, led by the Moral Majority, caused our federal government to remain silent in the 1980s while tens of thousands of people lay dying. When discussing the legacy of President Ronald Reagan, this must always be remembered.