Disease-Related Stigmas, Their Origins, Their Persistence, and Have We Learned Anything to Stop Them? A Comparative Look at HIV/AIDS and COVID-19

This event serves as a sister event to At the Crossroads: COVID-19, Racism, and Disinformation and one in a series of events and content for our Pride Month programming at the Wilson Center. 

This June for Pride Month, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is interrogating how LGBTQI+ issues are intertwined with our ongoing work.  We have all bore witness to the uptick in hate and violence targeted against AAPI communities directly related to stigmas caused by fear-mongering around COVID-19. Scapegoating marginalized communities for infectious diseases is nothing new. LGBTQI+ community members were especially targeted and harassed during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80s and still face deeply engrained stigmas today. 

This event will ground the audience in the histories of disease-related stigmas and their effects on policy.  Stigmas are not a micro problem but a macro one that can shift public opinion and by proxy political will. Through our discussion, we will interrogate the obstacles to mitigating scapegoating on the basis of disease and what we can do now so that the next pandemic isn’t used against vulnerable populations for political gain.

This event received support from the organization Out in National Security for speaker engagement and messaging.

Send questions for our panelists during the event via tweet by using the tag #PrideAtWilson!