Okay ... I'll be the straight guy in this discussion. (or do we say "heterosexual"?)
I was in my 20s through most of the '80s and remember what we thought of -- not as any epidemic that should concern "us" -- but as the AIDs "scare." Easy to see the foolhardiness of that through the prism of experience, but I was a kid then, and less concerned with larger societal issues than I am now. I can't speak for all heterosexuals, but it seemed to me then, as it does now, that it was a very specific thing that could easily be avoided through the simple expedient of not being stupid in a few very specific ways.
There were horror stories, to be sure; urban legends to some. This one got it from a blood transfusion. That one contracted it at the dentist. But I seem to recall not really worrying about it very much. Which I guess can be portrayed as an indifferent attitude toward "those people." Shoot me, I was a child.
On a lighter note -- if one belongs in this thread -- I did find that line about going from the love that dare not speak its name to the one that won't shut up pretty funny.
The truth is, as far as the story goes, I barely noticed the orientation within the larger imagery of beauty (and memory). It was there, but it wasn't holding a parade (so to speak). Ultimately what I took from this story centered mostly around that idea of people having remarkably sturdy illusions. I was reading a commentary in a popular New York tabloid the other day which remarked, among other things, on the irony of a culture which reviles -- for example -- Charlie Sheen for ignoring one of those simple things he could have done to avoid the predicament he finds himself (and may have placed others) in; while at the same time holding up a guy like Magic Johnson as a "survivor." Not sure what it says, but it says something.
In short (as if I am ever short), I think even now we have a long way to go as regards open discourse on what is still a troubling subject. Else why would a reasonably intelligent guy like me still think a "parade" reference would be the least bit amusing in a discussion like this?
I'll tell you why: Because I am a product of my age, after all, and have remarkably sturdy illusions.
Fire away!