Edward Koch was an American politician, lawyer and film critic. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and became mayor of New York City in 1977. He was the 105th mayor of New York City and is considered one of the best mayors of New York City because he is credited with helping New York enter a period of fiscal relief. Mayor Koch was considered very supportive of gay and lesbian rights, but he is thought to have had major problems in his handling of the AIDS epidemic while in office, for which some still have not forgiven him. He is credited with closing New York City's gay bathhouses and straight sex clubs like Plato's Retreat in response to the AIDS epidemic, which was significant in the fight for social justice but overall a failure in its response to the AIDS crisis. Many people who knew Koch well thought he was a homosexual, yet he never came out publicly. At several key moments in his political career, he strategically pretended to be heterosexual, most notably during his first mayoral campaign, when he appeared publicly with former Miss America Bess Myerson. This heterosexual charade seemed like something he needed to divert attention from whispers about his alleged homosexuality as he ran for office. Despite his failures, he is still considered one of New York City's greatest leaders and will always be remembered as such; many mourned his passing in February 2013. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection is a disease of the human immune system transmitted between people by mixing body fluids. It is an extremely deadly disease that has killed over thirty-six miles...... middle of paper......y, it is a disease where friends have to watch their friends die. Many people believe that the death toll from AIDS could have been reduced if it had been managed properly. Although, if you think about it from Mayor Koch's seat, he could have done very little. Koch has never written or said anything malicious about the AIDS community. Like many, he seemed to want to help but didn't know exactly how to do it properly. Every move anyone made regarding AIDS was brutally scrutinized by both sides, so many politicians didn't know what they could do. The nature of this disease and the political ramifications drive home the general idea that the sexual is political because without the sexual nature of this plague it would not have been so difficult to address it politically and millions of lives could have been saved.