LGBTQ+ Activism in 1980s
Movement at Grinnell College
In the face of homophobic hate crime on campus of Grinnell College in 1980s, students grew an urgent demand for Gay Resource Center. Along with students' activities to implement the resource center, Grinnell students also planned events to create a community space for the gay/lesbian students at that time.
Movement in the USA
In January 1986, the CDC reports that 1985 saw an 89 percent increase in AIDS diagnoses from 1984, and predicts that the number will double in 1986. In May 1986, the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses officially gives the name Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, to the virus that causes AIDS. In July 1986, a group of minority community leaders meet with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to voice concerns about HIV/AIDS in communities of color, unofficially founding the National Minority AIDS Council. In November 1986, in the Life: A Black Gay Anthology, the first collection of writings about the AIDS crisis from 29 Black, gay authors, is published. The book receives little mainstream attention at publication, but goes down in history as a watershed moment in gay literature. (https://www.history.com/articles/hiv-aids-crisis-timeline#1986)