Cleve Jones Research Paper

Many always seem to highlight the struggles of the African American Society, Women’s Rights, etc. But what ever happened with the LGBT Community and the struggle to find a cure for AIDs? In 1981, the AIDs epidemic was definitely starting to increase in the United States and no one wanted to speak out at first. People were humiliated to speak out about AIDs because homosexuality was fully unacceptable in that point in society. Cleve Jones took a stand for the LGBT community and the prevention of AIDs by being the first to respond to the epidemic, cofounding the San Francisco AIDs foundation, and by uniting the AIDs and LGBT community which resulted in society’s new positive perspective toward the disease and the decrease of hateful opinions

“On Dec. 1 1999, Jones was a keynote speaker at the opening of the Parliament of World Religions in Cape Town, South Africa, where AIDs Memorial Quilt panels from South Africa, Europe, and the United States were displayed” (Lambda Archives). Through this great participation and great awakening the NAMES Project also spread to many different other countries including Canada, France, Holland, and Australia (Lambda Archives). Furthermore, Cleve Jones was able to bring more attention to the LGBT community and the true effect of AIDs not only in the United States, but also throughout the whole entire world. Many believed that the AIDs disease was something that was righteous because it was happening to homosexuals. However, the moment that one of their family members or friends were affected by it, their mindsets were beginning to change. Even if a random person were to have been affected by the disease, it opened the eyes of many through helping them realize that this disease was most definitely killing a majority in their

An increasing number of support for the want to find a cure of AIDs was created, and there were many following behind Cleve Jones and the legacy of Milk and Moscone. “...In 1987, 1920 panels were exhibited on the National Mall in Washington, and were viewed by more than 500,000 people..” (LGBT History Month). This was a steep increase than the amount of panels that were created the first time the quilt was made. Not only does this show how the acceptance rate was increasing in America, but it also showed how different the society was beginning to form into. Proving that as time passes, if many work together for what is just, they will overcome. “President George Bush signs the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDs…” (PBS). Finally in 2006, the government finally did something about the treatment of AIDs. Those suffering from AIDs finally gained the attention needed to prevent them from dying so soon. They were given the treatment needed, and this most definitely helped societal progress. Because the President of the United States chose to do something about this life threatening disease, many other Americans actually stopped and thought how dangerous disease actually was. Not only was this disease, but also the dignity of those who were lesbian, gay, transgender, or bi-sexual. Now