LGBTQ+ in Hollywood

[discoprincess]

Article: Nancy Reagan refused to help dying Rock Hudson get AIDS treatment

Rock Hudson apparently sought experimental treatment at a hospital in France, but at first he wasn't allowed in because he wasn't a French citizen. So his people tried to appeal to the people in the White House to help (as the Reagans were old friends), only to be turned down.

A note written by Weinberg on the same day stated: “I spoke with Mrs Reagan about the attached telegram. She did not feel this was something the White House should get into and agreed to my suggestion that we refer the writer to the US embassy, Paris.”

He added that he advised the first lady that they “had to be fair”, and treat Hudson the same as anyone else, and she agreed. Weinberg recommended that the White House refer the matter to the US Embassy in France, because it was “probably not the [last] time we’re going to get a request like this and we want to be fair and not do anything that would appear to favour personal friends.”

He added: “The Reagans were very conscious of not making exceptions for people just because they were friends of theirs or celebrities or things of that kind … They weren’t about that. They were about treating everybody the same [...] The view was, ‘Well, we’re so sorry’ – and she was, they were both very sorry for Rock’s condition and felt for him and all the people – but it just wasn’t something that the White House felt that they could do something different for him than they would do for anybody else.”

The article is an interesting read.

[ladytrentham]

That's odd. Ron & Nancy invented renting out the Lincoln Bedroom to big campaign donors… but they had to be fair?

[addison]

ugh, so sad - unfortunately not a surprise. Reagan still hadn't ever addressed AIDS at this point, so didn't want to help out anyone with a disease he didn't even want to acknowledge existed. I think the ACT UP guy's quote is the true reason:

“Seems strange that the Reagans used that excuse, since they often did favours for their Hollywood friends during their White House years,” he told BuzzFeed, pointing to the former president’s personal intervention to help a fundraising effort led by Bob Hope. “I’m sure if it had been Bob Hope in that hospital with some rare, incurable cancer, Air Force One would have been dispatched to help save him. There’s no getting around the fact that they left Rock Hudson out to dry. As soon as he had that frightening homosexual disease, he became as unwanted and ignored as the rest of us.”

[narm]

Ugggghhhhh...That whole part about "God to judge" or whatnot makes me cross. Pisses me right off. My uncle was dead from the same disease only a couple years later. The whole St. Reagan thing always pisses me off.

[Sunnyhorse]

I pitied her when her husband died, but she's still an evil old bitch.

[Spinderella]

I had an uncle who was a very prominent teacher in California and had known the Reagan's when Ronnie was governor. After becoming president, he and some of his students went to D.C. as part of some sort of educational honors trip and meet the president.

In 1992, he died from AIDS.

Knowing that they pulled this stunt and were so regarded by my uncle pisses me off big time. They gave special treatment to their Hollywood friends all the time. Just because it wasn't made public knowledge and they "had to be fair" is bullshit. I've never liked them for so many reasons, and this is #1 on my list. It always makes me wonder how things would have been for their time in office if we had the internet back then. Would it be 'Just Say No' to drugs or to equal rights to those that are homosexual?

[discoprincess]

Feb 4, 2015 14:17:16 GMT -4 discoprincess said:

He added: “The Reagans were very conscious of not making exceptions for people just because they were friends of theirs or celebrities or things of that kind … They weren’t about that. They were about treating everybody the same

I didn't remember enough of the Reagan administration to determine whether or not that statement was BS. If the Reagans truly believed that - treating everyone the same - and granted no favors to rich and/or famous people or to friends, then I'd say okay. Too bad for Rock, but fair is fair. Yet, this right here gets a big old side eye from me. Would it have made the news (back then) if the Reagan administration had granted Rock that favor? That could have been kept out of the media, right?

So much for this photo...Poor Rock.

[Wenton]

These are the times when the Nancy Reagan/"Green Mile" conspiracy doesn't seem so crazy to me.

[prisma]

Feb 5, 2015 15:59:37 GMT -4 Wenton said:

These are the times when the Nancy Reagan/"Green Mile" conspiracy doesn't seem so crazy to me.

I'm not familiar with this...can you elaborate?

[Wenton]

When Ronald Reagan died, there were a few comments during Nancy's "last goodbye" (don't believe it was at Fametracker but it might have been) that if she wanted to join her beloved Ronnie on the other side so much, she should have to spend a goodly amount of time in waiting first. Considering it's been ten years and just about every "dear friend" of the family has gone into the ground, it's spooky to consider.