The remembrance, heartbreak & protest of the AIDS quilt

The Remembrance, Heartbreak & Protest of the AIDS Quilt | GZERO World

This Pride Month, we remember how just 35 years ago, America was in the middle of another public health crisis — one that disproportionately affected gay men, as well as communities of color.

But the tragedy of the HIV/AIDS epidemic also produced one remarkable piece of art that first captured the world’s attention in 1987.

We're talking about a quilt made of pieces sent by people across the United States, each naming a victim of the deadly disease. It originally spanned a football field, but now covers 1.3 million square feet.

For many, the AIDS Memorial Quilt has served as the memorial service they never had. Earlier in June, a big chunk was unveiled to mark the anniversary in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

This video is part of an upcoming episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer.

More from GZERO Media

US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks with GZERO founder and president Ian Bremmer at 92Y in New York City, on December 17, 2024.
Dan Martland/GZERO Media

Joe Biden's top foreign policy adviser shares his views on the transition to Trump, the risks in Syria, the choices for China, the false narrative about Russia, and what keeps him up at night as he prepares to leave office.

Argentina's President Javier Milei gestures during the Atreju political meeting organized by the young militants of Italian right-wing party Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia) at Circo Massimo in Rome.
Stefano Costantino / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

A year ago, Argentina’s eccentric, wolverine-haired, “anarcho-libertarian” president Javier MIlei took office with a chainsaw and a plan: to tackle the country’s triple-digit inflation and chronic debt problems, he would hack government spending to pieces — and it seems to be working.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, December 12, 2024.
The Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS

On Tuesday, the floor leader for South Korea’s newly-impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol’s party said it would be inappropriate to fill vacancies on the constitutional court with the powers of an acting president, setting up a fight aimed at slow-rolling Yoon’s final removal from office.

Palestinians inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house amid the Israel-Hamas conflict at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 13, 2024.
(Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto)