Editing GMHC (section)

===1980s===
{{Further|HIV/AIDS in New York City}}
In early 1981, reports began surfacing in San Francisco and New York City that a rare form of [[cancer]] called [[Kaposi's sarcoma]] was affecting young gay men.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/03/us/rare-cancer-seen-in-41-homosexuals.html |title=Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals |date=July 3, 1981 |work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> In response, 80 men gathered in New York writer [[Larry Kramer]]'s apartment on August 11, 1981, to discuss the issue of "[[gay cancer]]" and to begin organizing efforts to raise money for research.<ref name="Paternotte 2016">{{cite book |last1=Paternotte |first1=David |last2=Tremblay |first2=Manon |title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Lesbian and Gay Activism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Ashgate research companion |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-317-04291-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sviqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 |access-date=June 4, 2024 |page=60}}</ref><ref name="Kelsey 2016">{{cite web |last=Louie |first=Kelsey |title=It's Been 35 Years Since Gay Men's Health Crisis Began in Larry Kramer's Living Room |website=Advocate.com |date=August 11, 2016 |url=https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/8/11/its-been-35-years-gay-mens-health-crisis-began-larry-kramers-living-room |access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name=plague1>{{cite podcast |url= https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/12/01/surviving-aids-crisis-gay-catholic |title= Surviving the AIDS crisis as a gay Catholic |website= Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church |publisher=[[America (magazine)|America]] |host= Michael O'Loughlin |date= December 1, 2019|access-date= January 10, 2019}}</ref>

In January 1982, Nathan Fain, [[Lawrence D. Mass]], [[Paul Popham]], [[Paul Rapoport]] and [[Edmund White]] again met with Larry Kramer at his home and founded Gay Men's Health Crisis.<ref name="NYPL">{{cite web |url=http://archives.nypl.org/mss/1126 |title=Gay Men's Health Crisis records |publisher=[[New York Public Library]] |access-date=July 20, 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Paternotte 2016" /><ref name="TheBody">{{cite web |url=http://www.thebody.com/content/art32414.html |title=25 years of AIDS and HIV: A look back — 1981–1986: In the Beginning... |first=Jeff |last=Graham |work=The Body |date=January–February 2006 |access-date=July 20, 2014 }}</ref> GMHC took its name from the fact that the earliest men who fell victim to AIDS in the early 1980s were [[homosexuality|gay]]. The first meeting was held in the [[Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village]].<ref name=plague1 /> They organized the formal [[Tax exemption|tax-exempt]] entity, which was incorporated on June 30, 1982.<ref name= corp/> At the time, it was the largest volunteer AIDS organization in the world. Paul Popham was chosen as the [[President (corporation)|president]].<ref name="TheBody"/><ref name="amFAR">{{Cite web |url=http://www.amfar.org/in-the-spotlight/awards-of-courage/2000-honoring-with-pride-larry-kramer/ |title=Larry Kramer: Honoring with Pride 2000 Honoree |publisher=[[amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research]] |date=2000 |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202085921/https://www.amfar.org/In-The-Spotlight/Awards-Of-Courage/2000-Honoring-with-Pride-Larry-Kramer/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:First permanent home of Gay Men's Health Crisis 318 West 22nd Street, New York City.jpg|thumb|261px|Plaque on the exterior of 318 West 22nd Street]] [[Rodger McFarlane]] began a [[crisis hotline|crisis counseling hotline]] that originated on his own home telephone, which ultimately became one of the organization's most effective tools for sharing information about AIDS. He was named director of GMHC in 1982, helping create a more formal structure for the nascent organization, which had no funding or offices when he took on the role. GMHC operated out of a couple of rooms for offices in a rooming house at 318 West 22nd Street in [[Chelsea, Manhattan|Chelsea]] owned by [[Mel Cheren]] of [[West End Records]].<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Maureen Dowd |last=Dowd |first=Maureen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/05/nyregion/for-victims-of-aids-support-in-a-lonely-siege.html |title=For victims of AIDS, support in a lonely siege |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 15, 1983 |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mel Cheren Residence / Gay Men's Health Crisis Office |url=https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/mel-cheren-residence-gay-mens-health-crisis-office/ |publisher=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project |date=2016 |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref>

Popham's dedication to combating the [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] crisis and his collaboration with stakeholders worldwide emphasized his commitment to public health. Upon receiving outreach from [[Gordon Price]], a co-founder of [[AIDS Vancouver]], Popham traveled to [[Vancouver]], on the west coast of Canada, offering his invaluable expertise. This pivotal partnership culminated in the inception of the inaugural AIDS Information Forum on March 12, 1983. Notably, Popham's knowledge shared during this forum was immortalized on film, signifying a momentous stride in the nascent endeavors to tackle the [[epidemic]].<ref>{{cite episode|title=A Special on AIDS: Paul Popham speaking at the AIDS Forum in Vancouver, 1983 |publisher=GaybleVision|location=Vancouver |station=West End Cable 10 |format=Community Television|via=[[VIVO Media Arts Centre|VIVO]] |number=GV32 |series=4 |author1=Don Durrell |author2=Barry Spillman |id=GaybleVision Special |quote="Facing the epidemic was the 'ultimate test of our strength'." – Paul Popham |date=12 March 1983 |access-date=1 March 2024 |time=15m13s|url=https://vimeo.com/168399799#t=914s}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Popham speaking at the AIDS Forum in Vancouver, 1983 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5wJXYxNu88&t=162s |publisher=30 30 AIDS Vancouver |format=YouTube |quote=Facing the epidemic was the 'ultimate test of our strength'. – Paul Popham|date=12 March 1983 |access-date=10 February 2024|time=2m42s}}</ref>

Larry Kramer wrote that by the time of McFarlane's death, "the GMHC is essentially what he started: crisis counseling, legal aid, volunteers, the buddy system, social workers" as part of an organization that serves more than 15,000 people affected by HIV and AIDS. In an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'' after McFarlane's death in May 2009, Kramer described how "single-handedly Rodger took this struggling ragtag group of really frightened and mostly young men, found us an office and set up all the programs."<ref>{{cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/nyregion/19mcfarlane.html |title=Rodger McFarlane, who led AIDS-related groups, dies at 54 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 18, 2009 |access-date=May 19, 2009 }}</ref>

Kramer resigned in 1983 due to his many disagreements with the other founders.<ref>{{cite interview |title=Interview of Larry Kramer |date=November 15, 2003 |work=Act Up Oral History Project |url-status=dead |url=http://www.actuporalhistory.org/interviews/images/kramer.pdf |archive-date=2017-05-17 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170517152516/http://www.actuporalhistory.org/interviews/images/kramer.pdf}}</ref> From that time on, his public comments and posture toward GMHC were negative, if not hostile. Kramer's play ''[[The Normal Heart]]'' is a [[roman à clef]] of his involvement with the organization.

On April 30, 1983, the GMHC sponsored the first major fund-raising event for AIDS – a benefit performance of the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Botto |first=Louis |title=Passing Stages |newspaper=Playbill |date=March 1992 }}</ref>

By 1984, the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] had requested GMHC's assistance in planning public conferences on AIDS. That same year, the [[HIV|human immunodeficiency virus]] was discovered by the French doctors [[Françoise Barré-Sinoussi]] and [[Luc Montagnier]]. Within two years, GMHC was assisting [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] men and women (see [[Dennis Levy]]), [[haemophilia|hemophiliacs]], intravenous drug users, and children.

From 1987 until his death from AIDS in 1989, Doctor [[Barry Gingell]] served as a [[medical director]] for the Gay Men's Health Crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Peter B. |date=1989-05-30 |title=Barry Gingell, 34, Medical Expert On Treating AIDS Patients, Dies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/30/obituaries/barry-gingell-34-medical-expert-on-treating-aids-patients-dies.html |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Gay Men's Health Crisis received extensive coverage in [[Randy Shilts]]'s 1987 book ''[[And the Band Played On]]''.  The book described the progress of the [[pandemic]], blaming the government, especially the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] and [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health]] [[Margaret Heckler]], for failing to respond. It praised GMHC for its work. Shilts was a gay man who later died of AIDS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aegis.com/news/lt/1994/lt940208.html |title=Randy Shilts, chronicler of AIDS epidemic, dies at 42 |first1=Jenifer |last1=Warren |first2=Richard C. |last2=Paddock |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 18, 1994 |archive-date=August 25, 1999 |access-date=July 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990825105241/http://www.aegis.com/news/lt/1994/LT940208.html }}</ref>