You must read Randy Shilts' "And The Band Played On". My take after reading it, albeit years ago, was that the homosexual community bore a lot (not all) of blame, and spread it by not listening to the medicos. PC had nothing to do w/ it. The gays did not want to sacrifice their hard-won "rights" and act in an responsible manner by closing the bath houses.
I kinda disagree. If one even suggested quarantines, identifying and testing of all partners, etc., one was labeled a homophobe. Testing was done, maybe still is, by numbers, not names. The gay community raised an incredible stink when any real measures were brought up. At about this time, I was diagnosed with TB. I had broken some ribs coughing, and gotten an xray at Milwaukee General. They gave me pain pills and sent me home. The next day they called, and asked me to stop by to dicuss my xrays. Upon entering the hospital, I was escorted by a guard to the TB ward, and did not get out until 7 months later. My TB was diagnosed as atypical, and I probably caught it gardening. Not contagious. Lilies, who knew? Point being, TB is curable, AIDS ain't!