A new Brish TV drama looks at the liv of gay men London at the very start of the AIDS crisis — back when no one wanted to stop the party, and no one thought the vis uld touch them.
Contents:
- IT’S A S IS A LOVE LETTER TO 1980S GAY CULTURE – AND HATE MAIL TO THE ERA’S HOMOPHOBIC HEGEMONY
- 'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
- C4 ANNOUNC NEW SEASON, 50 SHAS OF GAY
- WHY ARE GAY MEN MORE AT RISK FOR HIV?
- NATNAL GAY MEN’S HIV/AIDS AWARENS DAY 2021
- IT’S A S IS A LOVE LETTER TO 1980S GAY CULTURE – AND HATE MAIL TO THE ERA’S HOMOPHOBIC HEGEMONY
IT’S A S IS A LOVE LETTER TO 1980S GAY CULTURE – AND HATE MAIL TO THE ERA’S HOMOPHOBIC HEGEMONY
Rsell T. Davi's "betifully gay" seri creat an evotive, personal time psule of an 1980s London bet by the Aids crisis. * channel four gay aids *
“Gas gays says Tory”, ran one headle. One doctor told , “Most of the rather sensatnal reportg … was around ntagn, around gay men, about excludg them and herdg them up.
'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
* channel four gay aids *
A gay man we spoke to said, “I’d read about the papers and had an ia of the facts, but not of the emotns of sudnly beg a ward wh 12 people all near ath. The prs divid people livg wh HIV to the “guilty” – those thought to have brought HIV fectn upon themselv, like gay men – and “nocent victims” like those wh haemophilia who were fected wh HIV om donated blood. However, for all the homophobic and negative verage, one untentnal si-effect of this media sensatnalism was the emergence of movg, human acunts om openly gay men and people livg wh HIV.
As one psychiatrist saw , the fact that “so many articulate, prentable, people wh HIV were the media … had a huge impact terms of normalisg homosexualy and HIV”.
Recent verage of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), the dg taken by HIV-negative people to signifintly rce chanc of gettg HIV (dubbed a “promiscuy pill” some plac) shows homophobia, HIV stigma and dogwhistl still exist the media. Meanwhile, verage of trans people today has echo of that of gay men the early 1980s.
C4 ANNOUNC NEW SEASON, 50 SHAS OF GAY
Channel 4 announc 50 Shas of Gay season markg the 50th anniversary of the partial-crimalisatn of homosexualy England and Wal * channel four gay aids *
The way they are often portrayed as a potential threat is remiscent of the way gay men were smeared as threats to the public. Like the character Jill It’s a S, the alli of the 1980s and 90s believed supportg gay people and those livg wh HIV, they accepted who they were. The st (which featur gay actors playg gay characters) also clus the lik of Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Stephen seri is loosely spired by Davi' own real-life experienc – jt like the three central characters It's A S, he was an 18-year-old gay man 1981, at the start of the AIDS crisis.
A trailer was released near the end of 2020, teasg the storyl of three young gay men (and their rpective fai) London before and durg the AIDs crisis. The five-parter will exame the liv of a group of young gay men (Rchie, Rose and Col) who are h by the outbreak of a new adly vis, HIV, after they move to London durg the 1980s.
WHY ARE GAY MEN MORE AT RISK FOR HIV?
The betifully ma HBO/Channel 4 miseri about gay men 1980s London n’t help but show the way that tragedi bee trop. * channel four gay aids *
Together they will endure the horror of the epimic, the pa of rejectn and the prejudic that gay men faced throughout the . Speakg exclively to Rad Tim, Davi has strsed the importance of stg gay actors the rol of the gay male characters It's A S.
“I’m not beg woke about this… but I feel strongly that if I st someone a story, I am stg them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on dgs or a crimal or a sat… they are not there to ‘act gay’ bee ‘actg gay’ is a bunch of s for a performance. His work helped shape my inty as a gay person so I’m absolutely over the moon we’ll be workg together.
“Do you serly thk there’s an illns that only affects gay men? It’s a S is a love letter to 1980s gay culture – and hate mail to the era’s homophobic hegemony Rsell T.
NATNAL GAY MEN’S HIV/AIDS AWARENS DAY 2021
Channel 4/HBO Max’s new drama It’s a S follows a group of iends livg through the 1980s Aids crisis. Watchg the show, Leigh Chislett, who worked as a HIV nurse London durg that perd, saw himself not jt the nurs rg for patients but also the young gay men navigatg their liv * channel four gay aids *
Davi’s “betifully gay” seri creat an evotive, personal time psule of an 1980s London bet by the Aids crisis – ’s the first great Brish seri on the subject.
Like Nathan Queer as Folk (1999), Freddie Cucumber (2015) and Daniel Years and Years (2019), he is gay, horny and cky.
He is one of a number of gay guys and a girl who move om across the UK and fd each other the big cy.
IT’S A S IS A LOVE LETTER TO 1980S GAY CULTURE – AND HATE MAIL TO THE ERA’S HOMOPHOBIC HEGEMONY
What's behd the higher rat of fectn among gay men? Dr. David bunks myths and explas why some groups are and areas are more affected by HIV/AIDS than others. * channel four gay aids *
They ci to share a flat, named the ‘Pk Palace’, 1980s London – the seri tak place between 1981 and 1991 – but the utopia of Rchie, Jill, Rose, Col and Ash is threatened when mours beg to circulate about a adly vis that seems to be targetg gay men. Davi’s prev gay dramas have often been provotive, even to LGBTQ+ dienc.
In Bob & Rose (2001), a gay man (Alan Davi) falls love wh a woman (Lley Sharp), leadg some viewers to acce Davi of reprentg sexualy as a choice.
It’s a S has moments where gay men are seen a negative, or at least dangeroly stubborn, light – a scene where an activist is btally thrown out of a gay bar for handg out leaflets warng patrons about the spread of HIV. A mpaigner, bter at a disappotg turn-out for a monstratn, growls, “There are 600, 000 gay people this cy.
Humour and humany are at the heart of this sublime seri about London’s gay muny the 1980s, om the creator of Queer as Folk * channel four gay aids *
” But the real target for Davi’s fury is the homophobic society that allowed the vis to flourish. Aids mpaigners take to the streets It's a SDpe the swagger of s protagonists, It’s a S expertly picts how shame, nurtured by the homophobia prevalent the Brish prs and, of urse, Thatcher’s ernment, tensified the crisis. He may be, as one character labels him, “betifully gay”, but Rchie stggl to e out to his fay.
Gay men die alone hospal beds, believg they serve to be sick and dyg. It’s one of many shrewd of song, many of them ironic, that permeate the narrative – bt of all, the momento e of Bronski Beat’s masterpiece Smalltown Boy, an anthem that enpsulat the experienc of so many young gay men at the time.