Kansas City, MO, Oct. 21, 2022 - Kansas City PBS has announced AIDS in KC: The Early Days, a new half-hour documentary from Regional Emmy-nominated Womontown producers Sandy Woodson and Emily Woodring. AIDS in KC: The Early Days will premiere on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first reported case in Kansas City. A follow up to the documentary will air on Kansas City PBS in 2023.

The documentary explores the early days of the AIDS crisis in Kansas City and the lifelong impact it had on survivors, their caregivers and the community. In the late 1980s and early 90s, the LGBTQ community nationwide found itself rocked by a new virus that few understood, with little support or acknowledgment from society or elected leaders. Though Washington D.C. and the nation at large were mostly silent, Kansas City was not. Local members of the community and allies recognized the injustice of turning the other way. They began a grassroots movement to shine a spotlight on the epidemic and rally support for those affected

“Kansas City PBS is proud to bring this story to our audiences,” said Kliff Kuehl, president & CEO of Kansas City. “During the height of the AIDS crisis, the epidemic - and our neighbors touched by it - were ignored by many of our elected leaders. As the area’s public media source, we have an obligation to finally bring these stories to light so we can learn from the past in hopes for a better future.”

Women were often the main caretakers for their friends and neighbors who were ill — often gay men who were dying in their own homes. Social workers, nurses, doctors and heads of community organizations, including bars and churches, formed alliances and held fundraisers, building a grassroots social safety net for queer people abandoned by those in power.

“At the time, we had hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking around this city — Kansas City — with overwhelming, quiet grief,” Woodson said. “All of their friends were dying and they couldn’t tell anyone, because they didn’t want to reveal the fact that they themselves were gay.”

Even in 2022, the survivors and those who stepped up to provide support during the height of the crisis have gone largely unrecognized. Many have not spoken of the horrors of the first days of the virus, the feelings of attending multiple funerals a month or losing all of their best friends within weeks of a diagnosis. Today, some are still haunted by memories of the time, but all have a story to tell.

“People think the struggle with HIV/AIDS is all over, but it’s not,” Woodson said. “I want to honor the people who died. I want to honor the people who helped them and those who are still surviving. And I want to educate the younger people about this time and how we can continue to make strides today.”

For more information, visit Kansas City PBS’ website.