When many black male members of the DC black gay nightclub the ClubHouse became mysteriously ill in the early 1980s, club and community members responded. Though this is true, attention to the specificity of Washington’s black gay nightlife nuances this narrative. In her groundbreaking study of AIDS and black politics, Cathy Cohen identifies the early 1980s as a period of denial regarding the impact of AIDS in black gay communities. What follows is a case study of the early impact of AIDS in black gay populations in Washington, DC, and the local community’s response to it. Fewer have directed attention to the local political responses that have also shaped how the virus is understood in particular cultural communities. Numerous studies have focused on the national and even global impact of AIDS, paying attention to the cultural politics that has undergirded the uneven distribution of care and state resources.
