B&D Pleasures; Issue Number 8. 1982
New York: B&D Pleasures Ltd., 1982. Edited by Bill and Debbie Majors. Arthur Wallace, Art Director. Advertisements in this issue point to a February 1982 publication date). 11" x 13" printed on newsprint, VG or better overall. 32 pp.
On p. 9 in his column, Jay Hartwell (original publisher of New York's SM Express) sounds the alarm about AIDS. Most notably, this is one of the earliest published instances of the disease being called AIDS--it wasn't until September 1982 that the CDC first used the term AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)—up until that point, underground and mainstream publications called it either "gay men's pneumonia" or "gay cancer":
A.I.D.S. Spreads in N.Y.C. to General Population
"Dear People,
Please protect yourselves. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome IS NOT limited to the Gay community! For some strange reason, this really terrible disease is not being given much media attention and IT IS KILLING PEOPLE! (Many more than the hundred or so known, because A.I.D.S. is not the direct cause of death.) The epidemiology so far is incomplete, but my guess is a very small virus, very delicate (i.e. requires ideal conditions), probably transmitted from the mucous membranes of one person to the membranes of another. In short, the more people you fuck, (or suck, or French, or Greek or soul-kiss), the more likely you are to become infected. If infected you have a 50/50 CHANCE OF SURVIVING! As Gay's are the most sexually active portion of our general population, this has become an ongoing tragedy for them. (How would you feel if people you loved started dying around you?).
Recently this syndrome, (the loss of the immune system that protects you from infection), has appeared in the hetero sexual population-several CHILDREN have died! (You kiss babies, remember?) It is just a question of time before infected prostitutes and swingers start showing up on the morgue slabs. SMers are not generally sexually intimate with multiple partners, but forewarned is forearmed. A.I.D.S. will KILL you! (Little known fact - One out of Three sexually promiscuous persons are Herpes carriers, with prostitutes being the highest risk group, and the disease is still spreading- a true national epidemic You won't get AIDS or Herpes at the Castle!”
This early reference to AIDS marks a significant historical emendation to the CDC AIDS timeline (see https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline#year-1981). Scarce. No copies in commerce, auction records, or OCLC. Item #1291
Price: $3,000.00