Grid, The

GRID stood for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, the earliest name public health officials used for the illness now known as AIDS. The term appeared in 1982, after doctors noticed clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and a rare pneumonia among gay men in cities like New York and Los Angeles. Because the name wrongly implied the disease affected only gay men, it fueled stigma and slowed the wider response. Researchers replaced it that same year with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) once it was clear the condition affected people of every sexual orientation. Today GRID is remembered mainly as a marker of how fear and prejudice shaped the epidemic's first years.