The Castro vs. AIDS: The '80s in Pictures

On World AIDS Day, the San Francisco Public Library debuts a collection of photographs from Thomas Alleman chronicling the Castro during the worst days of the epidemic.

BY Neal Broverman

November 30 2012 5:00 AM ET

San Francisco's gay-centric Castro was equal amounts thrilling and frightening in the 1980s. While the neighborhood attracted LGBT people from around the world, AIDS was decimating the population. Even as the residents fought back, protesting for research and education, life went on, and the Castro's 24-hour party never abated. In the following pictures by Thomas Alleman, part of the "Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws: Gay San Francisco, 1985-1988" exhibit at the San Francisco Public Library that opens on World AIDS Day, you can see the men and women who lived, loved, and fought for their lives during that heady time.