After googling Rock Hudson I came across multiple sources that said that Rock Hudson’s management “warned” him about the “dangers” of being gay and told him he had to hide it if he wanted to make it in Hollywood. Allegedly his management even paid for Hudson to get voice lessons to train him to speak in a lower pitched voice so he would appear more straight. It is sad to think about the fact that Hudson had to try so hard to hide his true self. Not only did Hudson have to hide these facts from the public but he hid them in his private life as well. In the Dyer reading his own aunt even critised Rock on his homosexuality. I honestly wonder what kind of roles Rock would have played or if he would even be as big of a star as he was if he was out of the closet at the time.
Over the years I personally have done a lot of research on the AIDS epidemic, the epidemic in the United States and abroad. In the United States AIDS was really ramping up in the mid 80s and was disproportionately affecting the gay community. In the U.S. it was labeled as a “homosexual disease” and given the reputation of being dirty. Because of the biases and homophobic attitudes of the American people and American leadership at the time the epidemic spread further and effected minority populations at higher rates. Rock Hudson was one the first major celebrities to die from AIDS and his death served as a huge wakeup call for the U.S. I think that the general population and lawmakers alike were all shocked and Hudson’s death symbolized their first call for action. Hudson was friends with Ronald Raegan and allegedly his death really shook the former President, who at the time was being criticized for his lack of attention to AIDS.
Rock Hudson left his mark on the world as not only a heartthrob movie star but as someone who was an early face of the AIDS epidemic.