An infectious example: early Italian HIV activism

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and starting from our precise location as queers in Italy, we have asked ourselves how global epidemics in the past have been dealt with in Italy both at the level of public discourse and at the level of activist organizations. We have turned to the still under-documented history of the spread of HIV in the country and of the grassroots response it elicited. We present here two interviews with two activists who have a long-standing engagement in the movement around HIV in Italy. We address three main themes. We begin with the issue of organization: how directly concerned persons organized networks, actions, and gained a public voice. Secondly, we collect testimonies around one of the most central aspects of this struggle, that is, the scientific (self)education of activists on the condition, pharmacological development, treatments and their side effects. This knowledge proved to be crucial in the - at times conflictual - confrontation with scientific institutions and pharmaceutical companies in the National and European field. Lastly, we address the issue of intersectionality and asked our informant about the national and transnational dimensions of the AIDS movement, as well as about the ways in which the field of AIDS activism allowed for an alliance between a variety of subjectivities and diverse political struggles. As our critical readings of the coronavirus pandemic begin to evolve, this struggle constitutes an extremely interesting example of a movement for self-determination which has focused primarily on health and its social determinants, and as such it speaks to our present at various levels.