Though her focus, like history's, tends to prioritize the white gay male experience, Bausum adds context to shift the focus onto other marginalized groups (particularly people of color) who were victimized in the HIV/AIDS panic. Occasional black-and-white photographs or images highlight key figures. Expertly interweaving quotes from a variety of firsthand sources (medical professionals, writers, activists, etc.), Bausum's precise journalism takes on an engaging narrative quality. Activist organizations like ACT UP and its predecessors pushed the Center for Disease Control and multiple presidential administrations to research an affordable cure, arguing that "SILENCE = DEATH." Bausum details the revolution while honoring some of the hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Initially diagnosed as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-a slow-progressing cancer-the disease shook the queer community and beyond when it began to rapidly spread. For gay men, the sexual freedom also introduced a mystery disease. The "hedonistic crescendo" of the 1970s brought bathhouses, dance clubs, drugs, disco music, and free love. Her three-part investigation begins before the epidemic, describing scenes of queer liberation in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Gr 9 Up-Following Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights, Bausum chronicles another chapter in queer history: the HIV/AIDS crisis.
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