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Queer and Post-Queer AIDS Activism

==We’re Here! We’re Queer!==

As the Queer Revolution of the 90’s got underway, the face of AIDS activism began a major thematic shift. As people settled in for the long haul towards the development of a vaccine for HIV (a newspaper article in 1984 predicted a “cure in two to three years”; by 1988 the prediction was ten, and increasing) it became clearer and clearer that it would take research symposiums and massive amounts of lab hours to fabricate a solution to the crisis. This shift took the form of a move from consciousness-raising panels and speakers to fund-raising drag shows and consciousness-raising spectacles.

===Performance and AIDS Activism===

On February 4th, 1991, Bullwinkle’s, a local gay bar, hosted a drag show/auction fund raiser to benefit the Bloomington AIDS Task Force. The coverage criticized past events for “aimlessly preaching about AIDS”. A March 26th, 1997 an Indiana Daily Student front-page article discussed the campus presence of HAVOC, the HIV/AIDS Volunteer Outreach Coalition. A student officer with the title “Special Events Diva” spoke of explosive ways to disseminate information, including demonstrating the way that oil-based lubricants erode latex condoms by smearing a blown-up condom in chocolate sauce and watching it pop, splattering observers with syrup. A few days later, on April 3rd, another newspaper article covered a concert benefit for Children AIDS Network National, billed as the “CANN Music Festival”. Local funk and “post-post-grunge” bands played to raise money and awareness about the negative impacts AIDS has on children.

===Institutional Efforts===

In 1994, Indiana University joined with the University of Colorado and the University of Kentucky to found the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention in part to specifically address the needs of seropositive individuals in rural areas—such as the ones found in southern Indiana. RCAP is headquartered at Indiana University’s Bloomington Campus; in 2003, the IU campus hosted RCAP’s third annual National Conference for HIV and STD Prevention in Rural Communities, from April 4th to 6th.

==Post-Queer Activism==

In even more recent years, the out-and-visibly-queer trend of ‘90s AIDS activism has continued. In 2006, the IU Sexual Health Behavior Center sponsored the first Bloomington “Latexhibition”, a consciousness-raising event held on World AIDS Day, December 1st. The event included a “latex fashion show”, featuring clothing made entirely out of condoms. In 2007, Bloomington area resident Vicci Laine began working locally to promote various AIDS service organizations. Laine, a trans woman, does work organizing drag shows primarily to benefit organizations focusing on providing services to local seropositive individuals. 



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[[AIDS, ACTIVISM, AND COMMUNITY VISIBILITY: 1981-1991 | '''AIDS and Community Life: the 80s''']] | [[QUEER BLOOMINGTON: 1992-2001 | '''The Queer Decade: the 90s''']] | [[QUEER HERE AND NOW: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE 21st CENTURY | '''Queer Here and Now: 2001-Present''']]

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