[mmmBacon]

My mother worked in a funeral home from about 1986 to 1997. I recall when they got their first AIDS victim in 1987. They took the body and I don’t recall my Mother freaking out about it. They realized that sooner or later they were going to get remains of someone who had died of AIDS. There were few protocols at the time regarding how to prepare bodies for viewing and I think they simply used common sense. I recall my Mother describing double gloves, smocks, and face shields when dealing with the blood. Despite the times, I think the folks who work in the funeral industry at that time (mostly family run) were truly compassionate about caring for someone’s remains regardless of who they were and didn’t judge. While they had concerns about dealing with this first case, it became routine (sadly) very quickly thereafter. I’d imagine they received referrals from their handling of that first case. And very quickly they started handling all remains are handled as if they were HIV positive.

The only other thing I do recall was some concern on this first case about folks showing up to disrupt the Funeral in part because most of the mourners were from the gay community. So I think they hired the an officer from the local PD to provide security but nothing happened.

[djaque]

I'm sure it varied quite a bit depending on where you were.

In the podcast, the interviewee talks about how in some major cities there was only one funeral home which would serve that population. Those places have now become the only place some gay men want to handle their body when they pass as a sign of appreciation for their compassion during the AIDS epidemic.