That is my primary recollection of the early Reagan period: the gay lobby did not want homosexuals to be stigmatized, so candid discussion of AIDS was verboten. This was the "AIDS is everybody's disease" period. In some sense, Reagan deserves some blame because he caved into the gay lobby and went along with the "everyone is at risk" myth.
Ironically, it was gays who suffered most from this foolish public health policy.
Yes. Deferring to liberal sensitivities is generally a mistake.