Bush left a mixed legacy on AIDS, and he did not advocate for gay<\/a> rights.<\/p>\n In 1992, ahead of the November election which Bill Clinton would win,\u00a0he told the New York Times<\/em><\/a>: \u201cI can\u2019t accept as normal life style people of the same sex<\/a> being parents. I\u2019m very sorry. And I believe in the traditional family values. And the best shot that a kid has is to have a mother and father that love that child, that will educate that child, that will care for that child. . . .But to glamorize life styles that are, in my view, not the normal life style, I don\u2019t approve of that. I don\u2019t want to censor it, but I don\u2019t approve of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bush never used the word \u201cgay\u201d<\/a> in any official remarks while in office.<\/p>\n As Ronald Reagan\u2019s vice president, Bush, like Reagan, was silent as the deadly plague of AIDS overtook the U.S. gay<\/a> population. Reagan didn\u2019t mention AIDS in public until 1985. By then, 5,000 people, mostly gay<\/a> men<\/a>, had died. Thousands of lives might have been saved had the Reagan administration acknowledged the crisis and taken action, but that did not happen.<\/p>\n Bush was booed onstage in 1987 at\u00a0the 3rd International Conference on AIDS in Washington, DC. \u201cHe and President Reagan have advocated for the expansion of mandatory HIV testing,\u201d Nature Medicine reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bush\u2019s first address on AIDS was in March 1990, speaking about a bill to protect people with AIDS from discrimination.<\/p>\n Said Bush in the speech:\u00a0\u201dLike many of you, Barbara and I have had friends who have died of AIDS. Our love for them when they were sick and when they died was just as great and just as intense as for anyone lost to heart disease or cancer or accidents. There is only one way to deal with an individual who is sick: with dignity, compassion, care, confidentiality and without discrimination\u2026.We don\u2019t spurn the accident victim who didn\u2019t wear a seat belt. We don\u2019t reject the cancer patient who didn\u2019t quit smoking cigarettes. We try to love them and care for them and comfort them. We do not fire them. We don\u2019t evict them. We don\u2019t cancel their insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n The NYT reported<\/a>: \u201cSeveral leaders of AIDS organizations said they were encouraged that Mr. Bush had addressed the subject but complained that he had not commented on some central issues. They cited immigration rules limiting the travel of people with AIDS who want to attend conferences in the United States, and a bill sponsored by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, that would deliver $600 million in Federal disaster relief to cities hit hard by AIDS.\u00a0Instead, the President gave his personal support to legislation that would prevent discrimination against disabled people, including those infected with the AIDS virus, chiefly in regard to employment or access to public buildings and services. The Bush Administration has already supported the measure in Congress, where it has passed the Senate and two of four committees in the House.\u201d<\/p>\n Bush was interrupted by protesters four times during the speech and 5 people were arrested.<\/p>\n Robert D. Haas, chairman of Levi Strauss & Company, praised Bush\u2019s speech but said\u00a0\u201deven if the private sector helps create \u2018a thousand points of light\u2019 across the land, it will be of no avail if there is darkness in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n Bush was criticized for removing funds for AIDS drugs from his budget as well.<\/p>\n \u201cJean McGuire, director of the AIDS Action Council, a coalition of AIDS policy groups, said Mr. Bush\u2019s speech \u2018was long on compassion, but short on commitments,’\u201d the NYT reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bush eventually signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law later that year.<\/p>\n In September 2013 Bush served as an official witness at the marriage of Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen<\/a>, the owners of a general store in Kennebunk, Maine, close to where the Bush family has a home.<\/p>\n This experience \u201cmellowed\u201d Bush\u2019s perspectives on it, and he sent his biographer Jon Meacham a note that year to clarify his position.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile gearing up for his 1988 campaign, Mr. Bush said in his audio diary that Americans \u2018don\u2019t want homosexual marriages codified.\u2019 the New York Times<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n After serving as witness to the lesbian<\/a> couple<\/a>\u2019s wedding, Bush wrote<\/a>, \u201cPersonally, I still believe in traditional marriage. But people should be able to do what they want to do, without discrimination. People have a right to be happy. I guess you could say I have mellowed.\u201d<\/p>\n The post George H.W. Bush Dead at 94: Here\u2019s How He Responded to the AIDS Crisis, Marriage Equality, and Gay Families<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n