And the band played on

National Review, Dec 4, 1987 by Henry Klingeman

If both conservatives and homosexuals have a parochial interest in defending their ideologies, public-health officials are responsible for finding and applying practical solutions to the epidemic. In San Francisco, Mervyn Silverman's attitude--to do the politically correct thing (from the radical point of view) without regard to saving lives, even the lives of gays--prevailed long after common sense suggested it should have been discarded. While San Francisco has followed the gay line as closely as possible, Shilts documents the gay anger that has focused on New York's response. Now Mayor Ed Koch is arguing fiercely for advertisements urging condom use; some prominent gay activists, such as playwright Larry Kramer, say that Koch failed to take action in the past because he was a closet homosexual. Ironically, in previous election campaigns, Koch's alleged homosexuality has been fuel for his anti-homosexual opponents in the New York Democratic Party.

Subtly, perhaps unwittingly, Shilts draws an ugly portrait of city governments. For instance, when he describes a New Year's Eve party in San Francisco, he casually mentions that a "supervisor was snorting cocaine in [the host's] bedroom,' while the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence cavorted on the dance floor. Supervisors are the councilmen of San Francisco, the highest elected officials below the mayor, and therefore in charge of leading the fight against AIDS.

There are few heroes in And the Band Played On. Some AIDS sufferers show courage in the throes of their illness, and some homosexual activists fight the radical political tide and urge celibacy, but AIDS is a disease that would surely have caused less carnage had the interested parties acted differently.