ABOUT RANDY SHILTS
First gay reporter for a mainstream news organization used his position to chronicle the AIDS epidemic.
He came out gay in college at 19 years of age and organized a Gay People's Alliance.
His book And the Band Played On called out the ignorance of many groups on the AIDS crisis, and was made into an HBO documentary.
He was born in Davenport, Iowa as one of six brothers in a conservative, working class family.
Richard Gere and Anjelica Huston were two of the many big names who starred in the HBO film And the Band Played On.
