Stepping back to the 1980s

This timeline is intended to give you an overview of the world in which our characters live. Whether you experienced the 1980s personally or not, this timeline should give hints to what our characters are living through, enjoying about their lives, and what they may be actively fighting against.

  • 1972:
    • Barney Frank, State Representative for Massachusetts, is first elected.
    • Barney Frank was the first congressman to ever voluntarily come out as gay. He came out in 1987.
  • 1973: 
    • Roe v. Wade established
  • 1974:
    • Nixon resigns
  • 1976:
    • Jimmy Carter elected president
  • 1978:
    • Pope John Paul II elected
    • First “test-tube” baby born
    • Harvey Milk, the first openly gay public official, is assassinated
  • 1979:
    • USSR Invades Afghanistan
    • Margaret Thatcher elected British Prime Minister
    • The Sony Walkman hits the market and is immediately popular
      • Started the personal technology revolution
  • 1980: 
    • Iran-Iraq War Begins
    • Reagan elected president
    • The Rubix Cube is introduced
    • Miracle on Ice
      • The US Men's Ice Hockey Team wins Gold at the Olympics against the Soviet Union. This was a huge upset - the Soviet Union had better stats, more experienced players, and the winning record. But, the USA had a plan to win. 
  • December 8, 1980
    • John Lennon is assassinated 
  • 1981:
    • Mary Morgan appointed to the San Francisco Municipal Court
      • First out, Lesbian judge appointed in the nation
    • Sandra Day O’Connor confirmed into Supreme Court
    • AIDs identified 
    • Assassination attempts on Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II
  • June 5, 1981: 
    • First documented AIDs case
      • Initially called the “Gay-Related Immune Deficiency,” which caused a lot of stigma, fear, and ostracization for the queer community. It also heightened the public’s perception that AIDs was only a disease for gay men.
  • August 1, 1981:              
    • MTV launched, revolutionizing the music industry
  • 1982:
    • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) fails ratification
    • NYC formed the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, a volunteer organization that operated an information hotline, provided counseling and legal assistance, and raised money for people with HIV/AIDS
    • Movie: E.T.
  • 1983:
    • The Denver Principles are published
      • A manifesto from PWAs (people with AIDs) that demonstrates proper language, response, and support measures
    • Sally Ride becomes first US Female Astronaut
    • AIDs Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) Founded
    • The CDC reports the first female diagnosed with AIDs
    • Dr. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and her colleagues at the Pasteur Institute discover the retrovirus that may cause AIDs.
    • Cabbage Patch Dolls introduced
      • The general public went crazy for the new dolls as they came with a birth certificate and a backstory
    • Movie: Flashdance
  • January 1, 1983
    • The first outpatient AIDs clinic opens at the San Francisco General Hospital
      • Ran entirely by volunteers
  • 1984:
    • MAC computers introduced
    • Geraldine Ferraro becomes first female presidential candidate
    • USA Women’s Gymnast Mary Lou Retton wins All Around Gold 
      • Became the first American woman to achieve this at the Olympics.
      • Also won silver in the vault, bronze in the uneven bars and the floor, and another silver in the team event
    • Billie Jean King becomes the commissioner of World Team Tennis
      • King founded this league with her husband in 1974. With this title, she is the first female commissioner of a professional sports league.
    • Movie: Footloose
  • 1985: 
    • Gorbachev introduces perestroika in USSR
      • Perestroika = restructuring 
    • GLAAD  (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) founded
    • Congress allocates $190 million for AIDs research
    • Nintendo introduced to North America
      • Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid
    • Rock Hudson dies from AIDs
      • A leading man in cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Akin to James Dean, paired with Elizabeth Taylor. Did not express his homosexuality during his lifetime. 
    • The Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl after a dominating season
  • March 2, 1985
    • The CDC licenses the first blood test for AIDs and begins screening the US’s blood supply
  • 1986
    • Challenger Explosion
    • Chernobyl nuclear accident
    • Oprah becomes the first woman to produce and own her own talk show
    • Greg LeMond becomes the first American man to win the Tour de France
    • Bowers v. Hardwick decision by the United States Supreme Court. 
      • This decision upheld the constitutionality of the Georgia sodomy laws which criminalized oral and anal sex in private, by consenting adults of the same sex. 
    • Movie: Top Gun
  • May 1, 1986
    • The virus that causes AIDs is officially named the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
  • November 22, 1986:
    • Mike Tyson wins his first Heavyweight Champion Title. 
  • 1987
    • Barney Frank becomes the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay
    • Princess Diana is photographed shaking the hand of an AIDs patient. This act was rebellious at the time and helped to shake some of the stigma surrounding AIDs patients.
    • A second, more accurate blood test is approved to diagnose AIDs
    • The AIDs Quilt is displayed for the first time
      • This is an art piece that commemorates those who have passed from AIDs. McLean County has a version that is displayed in the CPT lobby for the run of the show.
    • Movie: Dirty Dancing
  • February 4, 1987
    • Liberace dies from a heart attack. An autopsy would later reveal he died from an AIDs related illness.
    • His death sparked conversations regarding the right to privacy - before and after death
  • March 19: The FDA approves the first medication for AIDS—AZT (zidovudine) an antiretroviraldrug initially developed to treat cancer.
  • 1988
    • George H.W. Bush elected president
    • The Civil Rights Restoration Act is passed
    • The first coming out day is established in October
    • Michael Jordan wins the Slam Dunk contest, creating the iconic image now associated with his shoe brand
    • David Purchase sets up the nation’s first needle exchange program to prevent the spread of AIDs
  • November 4, 1988
    • President Reagan signed the Health Omnibus Programs Extension (HOPE) Act into law. The legislation authorizes the use of federal funds for AIDs prevention, education, and testing. It is the first comprehensive federal AIDS bill, and it establishes the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the AIDs Clinical Trials Group
  • 1989
    • Tiananmen Square massacre
    • Berlin Wall falls
    • The World Wide Web begins
    • Denmark is the first country to legalize same sex partnerships
    • Pete Rose receives and accepts a lifetime ban from the MLB for betting on games
    • Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), endorses giving HIV-positive people who do not qualify for clinical trials access to experimental treatments
  • 1990:
    • Germany reunified
    • Nelson Mandela freed
    • Communism falls in Eastern European
    • Persian Gulf War
    • The ADA is passed
      • It protects those living with AIDs from experiencing discrimination
  • November 7, 1991
    • Magic Johnson reveals he is living with HIV and retires from the Lakers
  • 1992:
    • Bill Clinton elected president