STATE OF DENIAL
w/ Adam Sussman
In development with This American Life
As deaths from AIDS receded in the mid to late 90s, two AIDS activists - David Pasquarelli and Michael Bellefountaine- became AIDS deniers, insisting HIV was a conspiracy perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry. They took over the San Francisco chapter of the AIDS activist group ACT-UP, and unleashed a reign of misinformation and violent harassment. They overturned tables at a fundraising dinner with Anthony Fauci and Larry Kramer. They poured 25 lbs of used cat litter over the head of an AIDS Foundation executive. Their misinformation spread globally.
One activist, Michael Lauro, saw the gravity of their threat early on. Lauro successfully organized against the AIDS denialists, founding AIDS Activists Against Violence and Lies. AAAVL joined AIDS activists, city government and law enforcement and forced those in power to take this threat seriously. The denialists were eventually found guilty of harassing health officials in 2003. The high-profile court case against the denialists led to the end of their influence, and they later died of AIDS.
AIDS Denialists meeting Mayor Willie Brown. January 16, 1999.
Dissidents disrupting the XI Conference on AIDS in Vancouver in 1996.
Adam with Steve looking through David Pasquarelli’s portfolio
This American Life branded microphone
Archival Audio of Dr. Fauci
Archival Audio of Larry Kramer