AIDS activist and lifelong Catholic, Micheal Flynn, is the subject of this episode of “The Other Streets of Philadelphia.” Flynn was an early member of Dignity USA’s Philadelphia chapter and among some of the first people to respond to the AIDS epidemic, establishing ways for gay Catholics and people with AIDS to feel at home within their religion. Through his words on early AIDS advocacy and his tactics for his own activism, we take a broad look at gay conservatism and moderate ideology in the United States. We examine the ways in which the ideas of religious freedom and the right to privacy have been used both by more conservative gay activists and the mainline Church in varying ways to justify their positions, with these arguments being weaponized by the Church against gay people and PWA’s to ignore mass death and reinforce homophobic oppression. Comparing and contrasting the tactics and goals of liberal and “acceptable” activism and the more disruptive tactics of organizations like ACT UP, we set the societal context for different kinds of activism, defining the ways in which liberal, conservative, and ‘radical’ AIDS activists all played into the response to AIDS.

Timecode Guide:

Series to Episode Introduction: [0:00-5:43]

Introduction: [5:44-8:50]

Broad Context/Early AIDS: [8:51-18:32]

Religious Position: [18:33-24:10]

Conservative/Moderate Activism: [24:11-30:40]

Radical Activism: [30:41-36:12]

For extended show notes

For transcript

For bibliography