so former first lady nancy reagan passed away and folks were posting left and right how wicked nancy reagan was for having once turned her back on her good friend rock hudson as he lied dying to complications of HIV. apparently, it has been a slow day because people who consider themselves advocates for those living with HIV were pissed that this happened.

ok, let us to try understand this. nancy reagan, miss say “just say no”, who created the national “just say no to drugs” campaign that helped to usher in the zero-tolerance policies that laid the foundation for the school-to-prison pipeline that has impacted millions of young black and latino students, is monster because she ignored the pleas of a white and wealthy socialite?

nancy, a woman who is celebrated for fierce loyalty to her husband. nancy, the wife of the president that watched as AIDS ravaged communities and did absolutely NOTHING to stop it? a president that was committed to preventing others from doing shit to stop it? the president who’s legacy is the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people? knowing this - we are supposed to be mad and enraged that she and the president ignored the pleas of a dying hudson? chyle, are we as HIV advocates that desperate for something to be mad at? seriously, are we mad because a privileged white, rich and affluent gay man could not use his privilege to access care that many in our communities could never and DID NOT get? would we be celebrating miss nancy if she DID NOT turn her back on him while black and latino communities were left to their own devices? y'all straight trippin’ boo!

miss nancy did exactly what the US government did in 1985 - ignored people living with and dying from AIDS. she was only keeping it real and was like “rocky, gurl, you ain’t hear? i just say no. so, about that request of yours…chyle, why you playin’ we don’t do that. we don’t do anything!”

no one should have had to die - no one. it is 2016 and we are still fighting for varones to get adequate care to manage their HIV. so the shame, fear and helplessness that rock must have no doubt experienced is something that NO ONE should have to ever go through. the fact that people still do should been at pisses us not the how miss nancy turned her back.

y'all need something to be mad at? peep the latest CDC HIV statistics and how the larger lgbtq organizations continue to turn their backs on trans women, black and latino men living with HIV.