" Reagan didn’t speak the word “AIDS” publicly for five years. He taught us a reality that had always been staring us in the face: a politician’s first priority is to get reelected. Second is to fund-raise. Third is to protect his party. Caring about a disease that is killing a small unpopular minority ranks somewhere below hosting Icelandic dignitaries at the White House. "

― Harvey Fierstein , I Was Better Last Night: A Memoir