Trouble at the "Crossroads": Divisions Over the Use of Religious Symbols as AIDS Memorials in Houston, 1991
Abstract
In 1991, AIDS Foundation Houston attempted to create a memorial display to honor those who had died of AIDS, but the demonstration was stopped by a group of gay atheists. The resulting fallout, told largely through letters to the editor of the largest gay publication in Texas at the time, highlights the troubled relationship the gay community had with Christianity in the late 20th century. In this paper, I examine how this single almost-forgotten event shows where the fault lines lay in gay and lesbian communities around issues of religion, AIDS, and grief.References
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