Living

Gay, bi men remain key to HIV epidemic

After 30 years of AIDS, many breakthroughs but infection rates on the rise

Published

15 years ago

June 3, 2011

On June 5, 1981, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an article in its authoritative journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report that experts now consider the first signal that an unprecedented worldwide epidemic had begun.

“In the period of October 1980-May 1981, 5 young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for biopsy-confirmed Pneumocystis carini pneumonia at 3 different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. Two of the patients died,” the MMWR article stated.

“Pneumocystis pneumonia in the United States is almost exclusively limited to severely immunosuppressed patients,” said the article. “The occurrence of pneumocytosis in these 5 previously healthy individuals without a clinically apparent underlying immunodeficiency is unusual.”

It would take another few years before scientists named the condition detected in the men discussed in that MMWR article as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. The name AIDS followed an earlier term used by some researchers and the media – Gay Related Immune Disorder or GRID.

In reflecting on the tumultuous developments surrounding AIDS over the past 30 years, leaders of AIDS advocacy organizations and LGBT activists in the U.S. who lived through the early years of the epidemic say that, to some extent, the MMWR article of June 1981 still has considerable resonance for gay men.

They acknowledge that so much has changed for the better over the past 30 years, including breakthroughs in biomedical research resulting in highly effective drugs that transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable, chronic illness like diabetes.

But AIDS activists also point out that HIV and AIDS continue to disproportionately impact gay men or men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and other countries.

And although the perception of AIDS as a “gay disease” has largely receded from the minds of most Americans, AIDS activists say they find themselves in the ironic position of having to remind Congress and state and local governments that more resources and funding are needed for HIV prevention programs targeting gay and bisexual men.

“MSM is the only group for whom, according to the CDC, new infections are still increasing,” said Ronald Johnson, vice president for policy and advocacy for AIDS United, a national group formerly known as AIDS Action.

“So there continues to be a concern that there is not enough targeted prevention resources to MSM, particularly MSM of color and young MSM of all races and ethnicities,” Johnson said.

According to the CDC, while MSM account for about 2 percent of the U.S. population, more than half of all new HIV infections in the U.S. each year (53 percent) occur among MSM. CDC data also show that MSM make up nearly half of all people living with HIV in the U.S. – 48 percent.

CDC figures show that white MSM “account for the largest number of annual new HIV infections of any group in the U.S., followed closely by black MSM,” according to a CDC fact sheet released last month.

“There are more new HIV infections among young black MSM (aged 13-29) than among any other age and racial group of MSM,” the fact sheet says.

The Obama administration, with input from AIDS advocacy organizations, released a National HIV/AIDS Strategy document in July 2010 that, among other things, calls for an aggressive effort to develop better HIV prevention programs targeting MSM.

Johnson and Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, a national advocacy group, praised the administration for developing the strategy document, which they say covers most of the bases needed for addressing HIV prevention programs for MSM.

But the two said the proposals in the strategy document have yet to be fully implemented. They note that delays in its implementation are due, in part, to the U.S. economic situation that has prevented needed increases in federal AIDS funds and severe cutbacks in state and local funding for AIDS-related programs.

Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, said in a commentary last week in the Washington Informer, a black community newspaper, that he fears the horrors of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, when friends and family members watched loved ones die due to a lack of effective medical treatment, could return to some degree in the next few years.

According to Wilson, if the federal government fails to boost funding for the federal-state AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), low income people who rely on the program to provide them the medications they need keep the AIDS virus in check could become casualties just as their predecessors became casualties years earlier. But this time, he said, an inability to gain access to medicine due to funding shortfalls would be responsible for their fate at a time when effective medicine is readily available.

He called such an outcome “immoral.”

The ADAP program was created under the Ryan White AIDS Care Act to provide life-sustaining drugs for low-income people with HIV and AIDS who are under insured or don’t have any health insurance to help pay for the drugs.

ADAP funding cuts by states and a large increase in the number of people applying for ADAP assistance has resulted in nearly 8,000 people being placed on state waiting lists for the AIDS drugs they need to remain healthy.

The health insurance reform law that President Obama proposed and Congress passed two years ago was expected to relieve the ADAP funding pressure on states when it takes effect in 2014. However, some states that oppose the law have filed lawsuits seeking to prevent its provision requiring all citizens to buy some form of health insurance from going into effect, making its outcome uncertain.

Nearly all AIDS advocacy groups support the law, saying it would strengthen medical care for large numbers of people with HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an arm of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has been the leading federal government official monitoring the AIDS epidemic and directing AIDS-related research since the disease burst on the scene in 1981.

In a speech commemorating the 30th anniversary of AIDS at NIH headquarters in Rockville, Md., on Tuesday, Fauci said he’s optimistic that an AIDS vaccine can be developed in the near future.

“We have scientific evidence that a safe and effective HIV vaccine is possible,” he said in a statement released on May 18.

“In 2009, a clinical trial in Thailand involving 16,000 people demonstrated for the first time that a vaccine could safely prevent HIV infection in a modest proportion of study participants,” he said. “Many of the best minds in HIV vaccine science are examining blood samples and data from the Thai trial to learn how the vaccine candidate prevented HIV infections and to consider how it could be modified to be more effective.”

Fauci said NIAID is also optimistic about development within the next few years of effective vaginal and rectal microbicides that can be used to prevent the transmission of HIV during sexual contact.

Fauci and other researchers have also pointed to studies showing the effectiveness to a certain degree of prescribing HIV drugs for use by non-infected people believed to be at high risk for HIV infection, such as men who have sex with men.

Known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the use of this prevention measure is said to have the drawback of being less effective if people fail to take the drug as required. Some also have expressed concern that people using this prevention method are subject to potential side effects of the drugs and may be discouraged from using condoms, which experts say is one of the most effective methods of HIV prevention.

Events and developments in the early years of AIDS

• 1981: The CDC reports in its June 1981 edition of MMWR and subsequent editions that year that an estimated 170 gay men had succumbed to Pneumocystis carini pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare skin cancer, over the preceding two years. The CDC studies of these cases cited a serious malfunctioning of the body’s immune system in those who contracted the conditions.

• 1982: Gay Related Immune Disorder, or GRID, became the first name to describe what is now known as AIDS. Cases reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., moving beyond clusters of gay men in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and into groups with no obvious risk factors.

• 1983: Gay leaders, independent medical researchers and health and social services agency officials testify before a congressional committee that the federal response to AIDS was highly inadequate. They issue a plea for the federal government and the Reagan administration to increase federal funding and federal initiatives to fight AIDS.

• 1985: In late July, actor Rock Hudson stunned the nation when he issued a statement saying he had AIDS and was receiving treatment in Paris that he said he couldn’t get in the U.S. He died three months later at age 59. His announcement and death drew massive mainstream media attention to AIDS. His death prompted his close friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor, to help found the American Foundation for AIDS Research to raise funds for AIDS causes.

• 1988: The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt makes its second trip to Washington in the spring, where it’s displayed on the Ellipse near the White House. Later that year, about 1,100 AIDS activists staged a protest at the headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in suburban Maryland outside D.C., denouncing the FDA for taking too long to approve new drugs for people with AIDS. Police arrested at least 176 of the protesters after they blocked access to the FDA building’s main entrance.

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Real Estate

D.C.’s housing reality: Cautious optimism meets landlord strain

Cost of living remains a major problem

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2026

Scott Bloom

(Photo by sparky2000/Bigstock)

Washington has long prided itself on stability. Anchored by the federal government and buoyed by a highly educated workforce, the District has historically weathered economic uncertainty better than most cities.

But beneath that stability, cracks have been showing since January 2025.

I was having a conversation with a prospective client the other day and offered him a candid assessment of the District’s economic outlook. Simply put, structural challenges have been shaping the city’s future, a new mayoral election, and more that blends cautious optimism with clear concern about the changes ahead.

For one, the long-term shift toward remote and hybrid work continues to reshape the city in ways many people still underestimate. There has been a change in the rhythm of downtown D.C., reduced daytime foot traffic for local businesses, and created uncertainty for commercial real estate owners and the neighborhoods that depended on those workers every day.

At the same time, the cost of living in the District continues to rise at a pace that many residents are struggling to absorb. Even residents with strong incomes are becoming more cautious about spending and relocation decisions.

Landlords are feeling those pressures as well. Many smaller housing providers are operating in an environment where expenses continue to rise faster than revenue while the regulatory environment has grown increasingly complex. For some rental owners, especially those with older buildings or only a few rental units, the math is making it harder to cover costs, much less generate passive income.

There is also growing concern about the District government’s own financial outlook. Significant budget pressures and spending cuts are being had in a more serious way than many Washingtonians are used to hearing. As uncertainty in federal employment affects local tax revenue and consumer confidence, how will the city fund services, infrastructure, housing programs, and public safety priorities in the years ahead?

At the same time, consumer confidence feels noticeably down than it did even a few years ago. People are taking longer to make decisions, whether that means signing a lease, purchasing a home, renovating a property, or expanding a business. That hesitation creates a slower-moving marketplace where caution often replaces momentum.

Despite all this, Washington has proven remarkably resilient over time. The city continues to attract talented professionals, international investment, universities, healthcare institutions, and industries tied to government, law, technology, and public policy. Neighborhoods continue to evolve, and demand for well-managed rental housing remains strong in the core areas of the city.

Unlike other major cities driven by private industry, federal employment and contracting are two of the main pillars of Washington’s economy. That reliance has long insulated the region from deep recessions. But it also creates vulnerability when federal activity slows.

D.C.’s economy is far more interconnected and interdependent than many people fully appreciate. Between significant federal layoffs, the District’s high unemployment rate, and broader economic uncertainty, there are a number of warning signs that property owners should be paying close attention to. When federal hiring slows or contracts tighten, the impact extends well beyond government workers themselves. It affects restaurants, retail, housing, and countless other sectors tied to the District’s economic activity.

Brookings Institution has documented how job losses in higher-income sectors can disproportionately impact urban economies—precisely because those workers drive local spending.

Research from the Urban Institute supports this view, noting that federal workforce disruptions can quickly ripple through the region’s economy. For landlords and renters alike, those ripples are already being felt. Renters see many more properties on the market which gives them leverage on negotiating discounts in rent or special incentives. Housing providers, already squeezed by the reality of a weak economy and strong regulations face lowering rents and income.

For years, affordability has been one of D.C.’s most persistent challenges. Much of that pressure has been driven by strong job growth and sustained demand for housing at a pace that new housing inventory has struggled to match. That imbalance has steadily pushed rents and home prices higher, leaving many residents financially stretched.

Recent multifamily housing data suggests the market is already beginning to adjust. Developers delivered more than 15,000 apartment units across the Washington metropolitan area over the past year, and several industry reports have noted that elevated supply levels, combined with slower demand growth, have contributed to softer occupancy levels and downward pressure on rents in portions of the region. CoStar, CBRE, and Northmarq have all reported rising vacancy rates across segments of the D.C. multifamily market as newly delivered Class A inventory continues entering the pipeline at a time when hiring growth has moderated and federal workforce uncertainty has increased.

At the same time, several economists and housing analysts have cautioned that the District’s affordability challenges are deeply structural and unlikely to disappear quickly. The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University has repeatedly identified Washington among the nation’s more cost-burdened metropolitan areas, particularly for renters, while Zillow data continues to show housing costs consuming a substantial percentage of household income for many residents.

From my own perspective as a property manager working directly in the market every day, I believe we are beginning to see the early stages of a market recalibration rather than a collapse. Anecdotally, there appears to be more competition among larger apartment buildings than there was several years ago, particularly in neighborhoods where substantial new inventory has recently delivered. That does not necessarily mean dramatic rent declines are coming, but it does suggest that the imbalance between supply and demand may be moderating somewhat after years of sustained upward pressure on pricing.

Even if prices soften, affordability will remain a long-term challenge.

Regulation and the Realities of Tenant Turnover

The same rental owner I spoke with pointed to regulatory hurdles as a major source of hesitation to continue renting out his property, given past bad experiences with tenants and excessive costs to prepare the rental for a new tenant.

For many small property owners, the cumulative weight of regulation, maintenance costs, and market uncertainty is becoming harder to bear. Clients of mine have described feeling overwhelmed, not just financially, but emotionally. What was once a source of pride has, in some cases, become a source of stress.

We’re seeing more small landlords sell their rental homes, questioning whether it’s worth staying in the market. That’s a significant shift from even five or ten years ago. The National Multifamily Housing Council has noted that regulatory complexity often disproportionately impacts smaller landlords, who lack the resources of larger firms.

Some are choosing to sell. Others are simply trying to hold on. The result is the same – less rental housing for DC residents.

A Shift From Pride to Disillusionment

Perhaps the most striking theme is the emotional shift described by the property owner. For some, owning property in D.C., once a milestone achievement, has become a source of disillusionment. They cited financial losses, regulatory frustration, and a growing sense of political alienation.

There are also broader concerns about:

The decline of small multifamily ownership
Rising foreclosures in certain segments
Increased consolidation by larger institutional landlords

If small landlords continue to exit the market, it changes the entire housing ecosystem. You lose diversity in housing options, and that can have long-term consequences for affordability. It also robs families of having homes large enough to live in.

Politics and Policy: A System at a Standstill?

The political environment has obviously been a key factor shaping the city’s housing future. Following the 2026 elections, a lack of significant leadership change may result in continued policy stagnation.

Without meaningful policy shifts, we’re likely to see more of the same: continued and increasing pressure on landlords and not enough study and focus on policies to increase housing supply by first stopping those property owners fleeing the District’s extreme tenant friendliness. The D.C. City Council remains central to these decisions, with advocacy groups continuing to push for expanded tenant protections. The importance of balance cannot be understated: ensuring protections for renters while maintaining a viable environment for housing providers.

Taken together, these dynamics point to a housing system at a crossroads.

D.C. must find a way to balance:

Tenant protections
Housing affordability
Landlord sustainability
Long-term investment in housing supply

What’s Next?

D.C. isn’t going anywhere. The question is how it adapts. If we can find the right balance, there’s a path forward, but it’s going to take time and thoughtful policy decisions. For landlords, that path will require adaptability and engagement. For renters, it may mean gradual rather than immediate relief. For policymakers, it presents a clear challenge: create a system that works for everyone.

Scott Bloom is owner and senior property manager of Columbia Property Management. Contact him via ColumbiaPM.com.

Real Estate

Introducing Next-Generation Assisted Living & Memory Support.

Now Available in Tysons: Kokua at The Mather

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Autos

A magical Mercedes

S-Class continues to define what luxury really means

Published

3 weeks ago

May 23, 2026

Joe Phillips

Mercedes S-Class

At my stage of life — “somewhere between 40 and death,” as the iconic line goes in the musical “Mame” — I want some pampering. A lot of pampering.

Luckily, for anyone who constantly craves a soothing spa, steam room or sauna, there’s the completely updated Mercedes S-Class. This flagship sedan is now so full of glitz, glamour, and gee-whiz gadgetry, it gives new meaning to the term “auto erotica.”

Does this make the S-Class a “gay” ride? For me, any vehicle that pushes my buttons like this one is a Kinsey 6.

MERCEDES S-CLASS

$122,000 (est.)

MPG: 21 city/31 highway

0 to 60 mph: 4.3 seconds

Trunk space: 19 cu. ft.

PROS: Exceptional comfort. Ultra-quiet cabin. Cutting-edge safety.

CONS: Price climbs fast. Tech learning curve. Sportier competitors.

The S-Class continues to define what luxury really means, with a bolder silhouette, larger grille, and striking, next-gen LED headlights. There’s also an optional illuminated Mercedes star on the hood. Overall, nearly 2,700 parts are new or improved, so more than 50 percent of this vehicle has been updated. An extreme makeover, to be sure.

At the same time, this latest S-Class leans harder into intelligence and electrification than ever before. Under the hood, a range of turbocharged inline-six and V8 engines — paired with mild-hybrid systems — deliver power in a way that seems almost edited for smoothness. Braking is solid and strong, too, but never abrupt. All the engineering is fine-tuned and intentional.

Yes, the top-of-the line S580 version is more expensive, almost $140,000. But it’s also blisteringly fast, zipping from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds. That’s as lickety-split swift as a Lamborghini Revuelto supercar, which has a starting MSRP of $610,000 and can easily exceed — yowza! — $800,000.

Colors? There are 150 to choose from for the exterior and 400 for the interior. You can even customize the illuminated door sills, interior stitching and wheel accents.

And the ride quality? Sublime. Adaptive air suspension reads the road constantly, leveling out imperfections before they even register. Rear-axle steering enhances maneuverability, making this full-sized sedan feel surprisingly nimble in tight spaces. On the highway, the S-Class simply glides like a private yacht on the calmest of seas — extremely quiet, composed and completely unbothered.

Whenever you slide inside, the cabin immediately sets the tone. A massive OLED digital display — the same high-def technology used for cinematic viewing and gaming monitors — anchors the dashboard, running the latest MBUX infotainment interface. Highly customizable, this software allows for advanced voice commands that feel natural, not forced. And an augmented-reality navigation system takes your route and overlays it onto live camera feeds. It’s intuitive — mostly, as there is a learning curve for all this cutting-edge gear. Overall, though, such amenities make older setups feel like dial-up internet.

A Burmester surround-sound stereo is available in 3D or 4D, with up to 31 speakers, 1,690 watts and tactile transducers in the seats that vibrate and pulse with the music. Those seats are, of course, extremely comfortable. And the seatbelts? These are now heated.

Let’s not forget the latest cabin air-filtration system, which can remove ultra-fine particles to deliver air quality that rivals medical environments. Clean air, yes, but even this seems like a special treat. It’s like being swaddled in couture, not ready-to-wear.

And lastly, there’s the rear-seat area, which — to be honest — is where the S-Class really shines. Executive packages offer multi-contour reclining seats with rapid heating and ventilating, heated armrests and massage functions. You can opt for a footrest, which ups the glam factor to give you a calf massage. Dual 13.1-inch display screens come with their own remote controls. There’s also a video-conferencing feature, to help transform the rear cabin into a fully connected mobile office. For me, it feels less “back seat” and more “private lounge.”

Even in fiction, high-tech luxury carries weight. Tony Stark helped cement the idea that state-of-the art vehicles can be aspirational, not just practical. The magical S-Class fits right into that narrative — minus the flying suit (for now).