09 1986 02 17 BBC Newsnight The AIDS Panic

[@Edgeworthscravat]

In the midst of this panic, there was kindness like the journalist who wanted to reassure the man who had named him that there were no hard feelings.

[@crocodile1313]

Yes, God bless him, that was so loving of him and so refreshing to hear.

[@NoctisAquila]

Martin, thank you so much for all your efgorts to put these online!

[@aids_archive]

My pleasure! Thanks for your kind words.

[@crocodile1313]

@@aids_archive I second that and offer my thanks as well. Young people today have no idea how horrific AIDS was before the creation of the modern drugs that keep it at bay.

[@garethhook9972]

That couple with the cat are cool

[@kittiesshortie5011]

One of them apparently cheated !

[@garethhook9972]

@@kittiesshortie5011 yes cause he had sex with someone 2 years ago back then cause he was with his partner for 15,he did not know who he might of caught it off maybe a red flag that he was sleeping around,l may have got it wrong

[@darrenhenderson3]

@@garethhook9972Harry Coen tested negative for HIV/AIDS and he continued to write for the Guardian newspaper until he retired in 2005. He died in early 2012

[@anthonydavid5121]

Were the boys partying a lot back in the mid-1980s? Was there a lot of crystal meth and other party drugs?

[@mided2119]

Crystal meth (also known in the gay community as T or Tina) didn't start to become used by gay men in the UK for long, intense sex sessions until around the mid-2000s (say around 2005/06). But even then it was confined to very small numbers. It wasn't until the early 2010s that the so-called "parTy" scene (party with a capital "T" to mean use of T/crystal meth) had really become quite large in the UK (mainly in London).