Meet Joan Baker:
How One HIV+ Dyke in San Francisco spoke out, and shattered stigmas as to who “gets” AIDS.
For Lady Science (r.i.p.) I had the opportunity to cover one of my favorite figures in the history of HIV+ women: Joan Baker.
Two days before Christmas 1986, 20-year-old Joan Baker received the results of her HIV-antibody test: Positive. Baker had gotten tested as an act of solidarity with a friend, not because she thought she was at risk. Her diagnosis was a shock.
She was living in San Francisco, and while the city had been a model of AIDS care to the world, there were few services for HIV+ women when Baker was diagnosed. In 1986, many HIV care providers and activists knew women could contract HIV/AIDS, but this knowledge did not translate to widespread services or research, or compassionate coverage from the media.
During the AIDS crisis, an epidemic that exposed the brutalities of fear and stigma, HIV+ women, particularly HIV+ lesbians like Baker, were rendered invisible. Baker would spend the last seven years of her life shattering this invisibility by being transparent and open about her HIV status and a vocal activist dedicated to her community.