Posted on Jun 9, 2022
Here's why the new Nancy Reagan stamp prompted backlash from the LGBTQ+ community
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https://www.npr.org/2022/06/09/ [login to see] /nancy-reagan-stamp-hiv-aids-pride-backlash-lgbtq
Members of the LGBTQ+ community are calling a new stamp featuring former first lady Nancy Reagan a "slap in the face," as it was unveiled at the beginning of Pride month and because of the Reagan administration's role in the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
"I think it just brings up just this overwhelming, underlying grief that a lot of us have been having," said Sarah Epperson, a queer artist and illustrator who focuses on social justice issues and politics. "Not only did we lose an entire generation of our elders through the AIDS crisis in the '80s — you know, stories that we'll never have, people that we'll never have. ... But also we lost so, so many people. There would have been so many more of us had we not lost so many of them."
The stamp features Reagan's official White House portrait from 1987 by artist Aaron Shikler. Reagan was born on July 6, 1921, and the commemorative Forever stamp is meant to celebrate the centennial of her birth, which was last year but whose celebration was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community are calling a new stamp featuring former first lady Nancy Reagan a "slap in the face," as it was unveiled at the beginning of Pride month and because of the Reagan administration's role in the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
"I think it just brings up just this overwhelming, underlying grief that a lot of us have been having," said Sarah Epperson, a queer artist and illustrator who focuses on social justice issues and politics. "Not only did we lose an entire generation of our elders through the AIDS crisis in the '80s — you know, stories that we'll never have, people that we'll never have. ... But also we lost so, so many people. There would have been so many more of us had we not lost so many of them."
The stamp features Reagan's official White House portrait from 1987 by artist Aaron Shikler. Reagan was born on July 6, 1921, and the commemorative Forever stamp is meant to celebrate the centennial of her birth, which was last year but whose celebration was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here's why the new Nancy Reagan stamp prompted backlash from the LGBTQ+ community
Posted from npr.org
LGBTQ+
Transgender
Stamps
Ronald Reagan
White House
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""The slowness of the Reagan administration to deal with AIDS cost, you know, tens of thousands of American lives, and it continues to reverberate even now during the COVID pandemic," Cuicchi said.
"Reagan's negligence is the reason that, you know, activists demanded that [then-President Donald] Trump speak about and address the COVID epidemic. We could never imagine COVID going unmentioned or unaddressed for years while thousands of people were dying and millions were being affected by the disease."
In response to the backlash, the White House noted the timing was tied to Nancy Reagan's centennial and the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute building in the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
"President Biden and the First Lady have a long and proud record of supporting, fighting for, and leading on, LGBTQ+ rights, and those living with HIV/AIDs," said Michael LaRosa, press secretary to the first lady. "Just last month, Dr. Biden visited a shelter in Panama for those living with HIV/AIDS and announced an additional $80 million in PEPFAR funds for the region."
...""The slowness of the Reagan administration to deal with AIDS cost, you know, tens of thousands of American lives, and it continues to reverberate even now during the COVID pandemic," Cuicchi said.
"Reagan's negligence is the reason that, you know, activists demanded that [then-President Donald] Trump speak about and address the COVID epidemic. We could never imagine COVID going unmentioned or unaddressed for years while thousands of people were dying and millions were being affected by the disease."
In response to the backlash, the White House noted the timing was tied to Nancy Reagan's centennial and the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute building in the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
"President Biden and the First Lady have a long and proud record of supporting, fighting for, and leading on, LGBTQ+ rights, and those living with HIV/AIDs," said Michael LaRosa, press secretary to the first lady. "Just last month, Dr. Biden visited a shelter in Panama for those living with HIV/AIDS and announced an additional $80 million in PEPFAR funds for the region."
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Name one thing that does not upset this group of fanatics. This political group, not those who are falsely lumped in with them because of who they are as a person. The entire mantra of this political group is based upon being the perpetual victim. Their job is to cause strife at every turn. And why is personal responsibility no longer an American attribute? The same group, in such a furball about wearing masks and taking risky injections to prevent the spread of the C-word, in effect, personal prevention, flip 180 when it comes to AIDS and the 1980s. Think about it.
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