Gay-related immune deficiency (GRID or GRIDS) (sometimes informally called the gay plague) was the 1982 name first proposed to describe an "unexpected cluster of cases"[1] of what is now known as AIDS,[2] after public health scientists noticed clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia among gay males in Southern California and New York City.[1]
During the early history of AIDS, when it was considered a disease of homosexual men, one physician suggested that male homosexuals reconsider the practice of engaging in anonymous sex.[3]
An ad hoc organization called Gay Men's Health Crisis was founded to combat what appeared to be a homosexual-only disease produced by sexual promiscuity, intravenous drug use, and/or usage of poppers. Soon after, clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia were also reported among Haitians recently entering the United States[4] and hemophiliacs, among female sexual partners of AIDS patients, and among blood transfusion recipients with no obvious risk factors.
The term AIDS (for acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was proposed in 1982[5] by researchers concerned with the accuracy of the disease's name. In this new name, scientists were supported by political figures who realized that the term "gay-related" did not accurately describe the demographic that the disease affected. On April 23, 1984, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary announced at a press conference that the probable cause of AIDS had been discovered: the retrovirus subsequently named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in 1986.
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