Rushin’ in the Sky: Celebration, Confusion, and Mourning

 “Rushin’ in the sky, flyin’ high, trippin’ on the moon (…), here in me, sexualityyy”—the lyrics of Cerrone’s hit “Trippin’ on the Moon” reverberated at Paradise Garage, a nightclub located at 84 King Street in Lower Manhattan, New York, on the night of April 8, 1982. Paradise Garage was also known as “Paradise Gay-Rage” because the queer community that frequented the club was extremely politically active. In fact, that night the club was hosting April Showers, a party organized by GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis) to fundraise in support of initiatives intended to confront a new epidemic called the “gay cancer” or the “gay plague” by the media. This “gay cancer” or GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) had already affected more than 300 New Yorkers; by spring, half of them would be dead