Gaetan Dugas, a Quebec flight attendant, was openly gay and wore makeup. After contracting "gay cancer" in the early 1980s, he shared his blood samples and the names of 72 former sex partners. Despite being demonized for his promiscuity and being gay, Dugas's assistance in a medical study and sharing his sexual history helped prove HIV/AIDS was sexually transmitted.
Killing Patient Zero
The 1993 film "And the Band Played On" tells the story of Gaetan Dugas, a gay man who contracted what was then known as "gay cancer" in the early 1980s. Despite his efforts to help researchers by providing blood samples and a list of 72 former sexual partners, Dugas was unfair...
