TV drama It’s a S looked back at a dark era for the gay muny. Here, some of those who remember tell of the real-life agony – and the hope
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'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
The acclaimed HBO Max seri, featurg a largely LGBTQ st, tells the story of a group of gay men and their iends London the early 1980s at the begng of the HIV/AIDS crisis, shg a light on a dark chapter that's been fadg om memory. * gay series about aids *
" Davi the show's wrer and producer, Davi didn't only want to explore the impact of a once-myster and adly disease had on a generatn of gay men, but also the shame that surround . "Based loosely on the people his own life, Davi imaged a group of gay men and their clost iends livg reee days and nights London as the epimic starts spreadg across the world 1981.
A scene om the Brish TV seri "It's a S, " about gay men London at the begng of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Davi remds , people simply had no ia: "Bee sounds so credible: A disease that affects only gay men? Only gay men who are havg sex?
Harris, who me out as gay 2006, acts alongsi a largely LGBTQ st. Tyab asked Davi, "All the gay characters are portrayed by gay actors. So, why not st the gay person?
HIV AND ALL GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
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. * gay series about aids *
Still, the emotnal glue that holds the iendships of the gay leads together is a straight character lled Jill, portrayed by London-born actor Lydia Wt. "So, terms of the thgs that I love, there's gay men and Dr.
Even as mors of a "gay ncer" or "gay plague" blow to London om New York, the dancg ntu... I secretly bought as a ltle stunt, secretly buyg his gay magaze, all kd of ashamed and exced all at once, like you do, " Davi said. Wh It's a S, Davi ptur the tragic irony of an era where gay men were jt startg to enjoy some amount of eedom after hard-fought battl for liberatn, only to be ravaged by an unseen viral predator.
HIV/AIDS is far om jt a gay man's disease, but as s first victims — predomantly gay men — started fillg up ICUs and mu, a backlash agast them ensued.
Gay and bisexual men are more severely affected by HIV than any other group the Uned Stat (US). * gay series about aids *
Olly Alexanr, who's 30, has been open about beg a victim of anti-gay bullyg growg up, says his school experience was fely fluenced by that backlash.
"You know, now that I'm lookg back, I realize what a huge impact that had on me as I was g to terms wh my own sexualy and the word gay and AIDS were ed as jok the playground.
Though Rchie might be the fierct nialist the seri, 's clear that at least at the outset, most of It's a S's gay characters n't be bothered to stop the party. Sensg the impendg wave of fectns, olr gay men try, to no avail, to warn their younger unterparts, but their advisory posters are rejected om gay bars and their worri are shunned as simply attempts to prive a younger generatn of their newfound sexual eedom. The only sympathetic ear the olr gay men seem to fd is that of the character Jill, played by Lydia Wt.
* gay series about aids *
Jill is a straight woman livg the Pk Palace wh her gay iends, and though we don't learn much about her personal story, she do a lot of the show's emotnal labor — whether 's phonebankg, prott anizg or holdg the hands of the abandoned and dyg — and she do all wh ltle regnn. I thk I wouldn't be dog my job if I wrote gay men as sats all the time and you see great prsure beg put on her, " he says. [It's a S] is cril of the load gay men put upon her.
Parents would get word their children were sick and they'd whisk them back home, sometim lerally burng all of the artifacts of their gay liv the procs. 's Channel 4, he's seen feedback om younger gay men — livg today's world of advanced preventative HIV medice and relative eedom — who are outraged "that such a world ever existed. "Growg up gay, one of the thgs that's difficult is n be really hard to fd your elrs...
The first major film, eher televised or theatril, to al wh the AIDS epimic, Frost stars Aidan Qun as a gay man who returns home to break the news to his fay that he is livg wh HIV.