Readers may remember a very young boy, Ryan White (the boy in the red shoes) as an AIDS victim, who became infected from a blood transplant. Americans were first becoming aware of the disease, there was a great deal of hatred and indeed the Reagan administration did not address it seriously. After all, other than Ryan White, and others like him it was "A gay
disease, or something drug addicts contracted, certainly not a concern of Republicans. From the interview in Parade with Elton John : "Every time I sing ‘The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes’ onstage, I say that this is a song written about a time when people in America started getting AIDS and your president, Ronald Reagan, did nothing about it. I get boos. There’s a lot of hate in the world."Apparently Elton John doesn’t realize Reagan has been canonized here.
Despite the travesty that is AIDS, this comment from the very long and far-ranging interview is the one which has garnered the most attention. "I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead."
The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF.org), est. 1982, is among the world’s leading AIDS advocacy and support organizations. He has raised more than $175 million for support and prevention programs in 55 countries and was knighted in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth in part for his work.