Nancy Reagan, who turned her back on the AIDS crisis, honoured by White House on first day of Pride

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The LGBTQ+ community and allies are up in arms after the White House kicked off Pride Month by announcing a new postal stamp honouring former first lady Nancy Reagan. 

As the world celebrated the first day of Pride Month, the White House decided to announce that it will be unveiling a new postal stamp to honour the former first lady – ignoring Reagan’s link to the horrific mistreatment and stigmatisation of LGBTQ+ people during her time in the White House. 

The first cases of the illness now known as AIDS were reported from Los Angeles in June 1981, just months after Nancy Reagan’s husband Ronald Reagan became president.

For years, the couple were actively silent on the crisis. Ronald Reagan was in office for nearly five years before he said the word “AIDS” in public, and his administration reacted appallingly to the epidemic.

How to announce you have no LGBTQ people on staff. Announcing a stamp on the first day of pride for Nancy Reagan who participated in a genocide against gay men during the AIDS crisis. https://t.co/BJHMD2tCZv

— Alejandra Caraballo