BetteBack December 27, 1991: How does Bette feel about the deadly disease , AIDS?

Winslow Mail
December 27, 1991

Question: Is it true that Bette Midler once worked in a gay men‘s bathhouse? If so, how does she feel about the deadly disease , AIDS?
Carmine J.

Answer: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bette did, indeed, perform at The Continental BathHouse in New York City. Bette performed in front of up to 2,000 men clad in nothing but towels and found nothing wrong with it. Bette is extremely upset about the AIDS tragedy and says that she has lost over 60 friends to the disease. Ms. Midler is very involved in raising money for the fight against AIDS and speaking up on this disease as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.

Said Bette, “It’s amazing how our whole society sells everything on sex, but is unwilling to discuss the ramifications of unsafe sex and the consequences from having a variety of sexual partners. It’s amazing how people just stick their heads in the sand waiting for them to be chopped off.”

Bette also said ihat people m the United States should not only be educated on AIDS, but many other sexually transmitted diseases, especially cervical cancer which has become prevalent among fémales who had engaged in sex as teenagers when their bodies were not mature enough to deal with it, and later developed the cancer. Unfortunately, it is usually discovered at a stage that is too late to be cured.