In the
early days of the AIDS epidemic, thousands of men were martyred by a public
health policy and a medical establishment which neglected to recognize a crisis
on the principal that it affected only gay men. At the same time, before the
scope of the catastrophe was well understood, many in the gay men’s
community appeared willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of practices
equated with sexual liberation. Lakich explores complex,
double-edged aspects of martyrdom—imposed and embraced—in her
AIDS series. The tail light represents the flaming heart common in pictures
of saints and martyrs. “Vacancy” spells out the void left in private
lives and the public sphere by the loss of so many individuals.
