This study tells how one community-based initiative - Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York - overcame the obstacles of homophobia and fear of AIDS by organizing groups of volunteers who "bear witness" to the suffering of people with AIDS. The book explores the gay community's response to AIDS, examining the relationship between personal motives for volunteering and the broader political, social and religious contexts in which people with AIDS have been largely abandoned. The author is both a sociologist and a volunteer at the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

This book explores how one community-based initiative - Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York - overcame the obstacles of homophobia and fear of AIDS by organizing groups of volunteers who "bear witness" to the suffering of people with AIDS.