The second way the gay community's collective experience during the AIDS pandemic is explored is through the disease itself. The illness is primarily affecting men, though a woman was killed by it. Akin to the Mai Tai Killer, the disease attacked a specific demographic, and officials in medical fields did little to help raise awareness or help. Men in the community died in droves almost as silently as Big Daddy lurked in the shadows. The community tried to speak out, and even had a mouthpiece in reporter Gino Barelli. But they weren't heard, and were all eventually killed.