The Nation - News from Nov. 22, 1987

A striking shift in public attitudes toward AIDS has taken place since last summer, marked by rising compassion toward its victims, increasing support for protecting them against being fired from their jobs and growing opposition to the idea that those afflicted should be required to carry special ID cards. The latest Gallup Poll also shows that the public believes by a 53%-37% margin that the government is not doing enough to fight the epidemic. Americans overwhelmingly believe that landlords should not have the right to evict AIDS victims (75% to 17%) and divide about evenly on whether everyone should be given a blood test for AIDS (48% approve, 46% disapprove). Also, two-thirds (65%) say they would not balk at working next to someone with AIDS, and 71% do not want people with AIDS isolated from society.