AIDS, THE LOST VOICES
Will heads to Slough to surprise hosts of The HIV Podcast Sarah & Jess who are also the CEOs of Thames Valley Positive Support (TVPS), an HIV charity with a long and illustrious 39-year history of supporting people living with HIV/AIDS. Swapping the red leather book, for the dusty newspaper archives the trio delve into the ‘HIVstor'y’ of TVPS one article at a time.
The year is 1985 and a group of gay men come together to form Reading Area AIDS Support Group (RAASG). As the AIDS pandemic reaches new heights the group features heavily in the Reading Evening Post. Their press officer in the early days, Jim Hoggart is often quoted giving comment to address the irrational fear, ignorance and stigma of journalists and their readers.
As Will shares the charity’s history there are surprise guests along the way. Voices that echo from the print of the newspapers, who were actually there, and all too often are the forgotten heroes of the AIDS pandemic.
IN ORDER OF PODCAST EPISODE - CLICK TO ENLARGE (OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)
JIM HOGGART: “National Hero”
Described by the trio as a “National Hero” it is undeniable that the hard work of RAASG and Jim as its press officer rightly deserves such a title! On behalf of RAASG Jim spoke not only for people with an AIDS diagnosis but also for the entire ‘gay community’ who were being vilified and stigmatised because of the AIDS virus dubbed by the media as “the gay plague”.
1985: Gays are ‘not to blame’ - Evening Post
Four decades on, it is truly mind-bending for younger members of the LGBT community to truly appreciate nor understand that people like Jim, along with other similar groups and charities had to spend more time fighting the stigma around HIV/AIDS when the focus should have been on fighting the disease itself.
While Jim is incredibly humble, there is no denying that his dedicated work and that of his colleagues of RAASG, paved the way for greater acceptance of the ‘gay community’ and breaking down HIV stigma for people living with HIV and for that, Jim, we salute you!
When I read this excellent blog and listen to the TVPS ‘This is Your HIV Story’ I am still humbled by (but grateful for) the praise given to me and all those early RAASG volunteers, but equally the level of misinformation, prejudice and sheer vitriol that came the way of gay men and other vulnerable groups in society at that time comes flooding back. Reading the local and national press cuttings reminds me too of the absolute need to push back – often robustly – against those who would sensationalise illness and death in order to sell newspapers or clicks on a website.
And as we see, those battles remain in 2024 many respects – no amount of celebrity campaigning and endorsements can take away the need even today for dedicated volunteers and organisers working in the community to take that battle forward in the pursuit of good health outcomes, but also practical support for those in need; challenging the prejudice that still clings to this disease like a rotten smell. The battle in the workplace for fair treatment, access to legal redress, fighting for proper funding that has diminished over a decade of austerity and asserting our rights to be heard. Those at risk, infected or ill are not newspaper fodder nor are we click-bait. We are not (and have never been) ‘victims’ – we are people with a need, who pay our taxes, work hard, love and strive – and we deserve better.
And on a wider front, up and down the country other ordinary people are still campaigning for justice – haemophiliacs who were experimented on without consent with blood clotting agents or infected with HIV or Hepatitis as a result of government cost savings in the NHS – are still fighting. And we see more broadly still in society other groups, similarly mistreated and denied justice, still fighting; still campaigning.
The answer to these challenges remains the same now as in 1984 – it lies with us all as individuals and collectively – to have hope, to have a vision and have the energy and determination to repel the negative narrative, one step at a time. To guard with absolute commitment those gains that we have made - because those gains are continuously under threat and can never be taken for granted.
But it is important also, to keep not only our vision, but also our sense humour, and to occasionally allow ourselves to laugh. To use our compassion to help, but also reach out to allies and friends. And to recognise that, whether its 1984 or 2024, that others have come this way for many different causes and different needs over the last 200 years and they prevailed; and in the end, so shall we.
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