jim j bullock: but i was in the closet. i was terrified that, you know, it would ruin my career or whatever. you know? and then, you know, in 1985 i discovered that i was hiv positive. there was really not any treatment for it. i was terrified. dan rather: congress opened hearings today on aids, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome and what the government is doing to fight it. geri jewell: i lived in paranoia in the 80s. absolute total paranoia. geri: name that handicap! geri jewell: when the aids outbreak started, i was terrified of people finding out that i'm gay. there was no way i could be openly gay at that time. it would have been career suicide. jim j bullock: i think being gay was admitting to someone that you could have aids. patrick gomez: ultimately we didn't see very many lgbtq characters in sitcoms in the 80's. for most lgbtq communities it was a very dark time. dorothy: seems you had a transfusion while you were there. the hospital thinks the blood may have contained hiv antibodies. rose: hi...v- wait a min