A Story of Compassion in the Face of Deadly Silence.
The Body of Christ Has AIDS is a deeply personal story of one of the most tragic decades in American history. In this documentary, we examine the contradictory ways Christianity responded to the AIDS crisis. This examination is deeply contextualized within American society, pop culture, and religious life.
And in the middle of this, gay men were dying.
Despite initial hope that Christian movements would embrace LGBT+ persons as part of the civil rights movement, the church doubled down on their rejection of the gay community. This active condemnation happened just in time for the AIDS crisis. In the 1980s and 1990s, a very marginalized community suddenly, and rapidly, were given death sentences.
Where was Christianity before and after the “gay plague?” Where was society and our morals during the death of so many?
And yet, some Christian rebels showed deep compassion in the face of deadly silence. It is in their stories that we see what compassion truly looks like. They believed as Christians, if one has AIDS we all have AIDS. This was their rally cry. The journey you will go on in The Body of Christ Has AIDS is one of inspiration, heartbreak, and ultimately hope.