Neil Young - Barn Documentary

Neil lost me as a fan with his ignorant rants about HIV and AIDS.

He is dead to me and has been since the 80’s. 
 

He is as ignorant as Kid Rock.

@jerryg123 - I must have missed that. What did Neil say about HIV and AIDS?

I am no fan of Old Man Pebble, either!

@larsman here is a summary of what this vile old man said.

Now, public health comments Neil Young made during the AIDS epidemic are surfacing online. In an interview with Melody Maker in 1985, Young slid into a homophobic rant as he spoke about Reagan’s gun control policies and AIDS. In particular, Young called gay people ‘f—ggots’ and tied them to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. “You go to a supermarket, and you see a f—ggot behind the f—kin’ cash register; you don’t want him to handle your potatoes.”

 

The comments have since been republished by numerous other publications, including The Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone.

Young has found himself on both sides of the political divide. In 1989 he wrote the anti-George H.W. Bush song, “Rockin’ in the Free World.” He was also one of the most vocal critics of George. W. Bush in the 2000s.

But in the 1980s, Young was a vocal supporter of Ronald Reagan’s policies. In the early days, AIDS was thought to be a disease spread by homosexuality, particularly by gay men, who were frequently targeted and ostracized. AIDS was even called the Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID) for a brief time.

 

Young made those comments 37 years ago, but it also highlights how a person’s opinions can change over the course of nearly 40 years. The reaction online to these comments has been a bitter divide in what seems like a politically charged debate. Those who support Young say he’s allowed to change his views over the course of three decades. Others point to the hypocrisy of a grandstanding public figure.

“He was 40 years old at the time he made that comment, and hasn’t apologized for it since,” one commenter on Reddit blasted.

@larsman Un Edited.

Neil Young blamed homosexuals for AIDS:
In an interview with Melody Maker in 1985, Neil Young backed Reagan’s gun control policies and said of AIDS, “You go to a supermarket and you see a faggot behind the fuckin’ cash register, you don’t want him to handle your potatoes.” Needless to say, Young almost certainly regrets that horrific statement and quickly moved away from right-wing politics. He wrote the furious anti-George H.W. Bush screed “Rockin’ in the Free World” in 1989 and was one of George W. Bush’s most vocal critics in the 2000s. 

@jerryg123 - Thanks Jerry - yes, that was very stupid and hurtful. There was so much ignorance and homophobia surrounding it back in the 80's when it was first getting started. Not that there is any shortage of ignorance and homophobia today, but at least we learned a lot about the disease and how to manage HIV and prevent it from becoming AIDS; it's no longer a death sentence, thank goodness. 

I'd also wager that Neil realizes he was an idiot back then (too much blow can do terrible things to the mind!) and no longer thinks that way; I'm pretty sure he believes in science. And his annual Bridge School Benefits were a very good thing, both for the cause and for the music. So I'll cut him a little slack for some ignorance and vile language 40 years ago...