Deidre Hall Wearing AIDS Red Ribbon In 1991

I have often found myself pondering over this.

Is it pink? For breast cancer awareness.

Damage control?

Nighttime is the right time for RED.

I would like to know why she never ages. Blood of immortals?

That was her twin sister.

Eh, that Dyke again.

Her only redeeming quality is her plastic surgeon’s business card. (Bitch looks fabulous.)

Soap actors always feel inadequate in Hollywood

I understood her objection wasn't wearing a ribbon, it was that someone handed her one and was like here bitch put this on. She wanted to be able to make that choice herself.

R9 her op-ed was entitled "Why I Won't Wear A Red Ribbon"

Yes, I'm aware of that.

Again, the point was that she wanted to decide if and when she wore one. She objected to the idea that she was handed one and expected to wear it.

[quote] A very small group of AIDS activists challenged this norm, citing the red ribbon as a symbol of shallow compassion and hollow activism. Deidre Hall was one of the few public figures at that time to denounce this practice, and stand up for real changes that would improve the lives of people with HIV.

Bold and worth saying.

Everyone wears ribbons but they don't do anything or care. The Susan G. Komen Foundation took the pink ribbon to an exponential scale and turned everything pink and sells it so people can show off their pink charity shit. Project RED copied this with red for HIV/AIDS. Both charities have been criticized for marketing and selling well and not doing anything with their money to help advance breast cancer or HIV/AIDS treatment or prevention.

She was [italic]opposed[/italic] to it, but she wasn’t [italic]opposed-opposed[/italic] to it.

RED! I might have known it would be red.

The red ribbon may have been shallow but it did accomplish what it was supposed to do which was awareness. Remember, back then, saying the AIDS in public was almost taboo thanks to the previous President at the time Ronald Regan. People still in taboo let's just not talk about it mode even though he was long gone.

My body, my choice.

I believe that televised awards shows are not a forum for expressing personal religious, social or political views. However, I have not objected when fellow performers have worn red ribbon to express their support for AIDS research; that's their choice. My choice is NOT to wear a ribbon.

Soap Opera Digest readers should know wearing a red ribbon is no longer entirely voluntary. Those who began by offering ribbons to performers now resort to extreme tactics in pursuit of their express goal of 100 percent conformity. When performers arrive at an award show, individuals who attempt to pin ribbons on them accost them. A performer who declines may be accosted at the pre-show reception, again while waiting backstage and again at the press conference after the show.

Offering these ribbons to celebrities was, in my view, a benign and pro-social act. On the other hand, aggressively badgering performers to compel the wearing of ribbons is no only demeaning to AIDS victims and to the desperate need for an all-out research war against the disease, but an offense against personal freedom.

By attempting to force 100 percent conformity, these activists are now attempting to make the red ribbon a visible litmus test for separating those individuals who empathize with AIDS victims and support AIDS research from those who do not. This is a misguided and dangerous notion.

First, it misguidedly politicizes human tragedy. These red ribbons provide a means by which public figures can appear to make a 'politically correct' statement in favor of a cause they do not support. A prime example was Barbara Bush wearing a red ribbon while seated among the audience at the Republican National Convention but removing it before joining the president on the podium.

Second, any attempt to force conformity to a single social agenda attacks the freedom of expression. The extreme activities that resort to harassment to compel actors and actresses to wear these ribbons are practicing a '90s brand of McCarthyism – and their behavior is deplorable. Our community was devastated by political extremists in the 1950s and again became a target during the last presidential campaign. It surpasses belief that men and women in the entertainment field would resort to shameful practices that the enemies of artistic freedom have used against us.

Sadly, it falls to some of us who ardently support AIDS victims and AIDS research to resist these tactics by personal example. Believe me, the easy way out would be to pin the ribbon on and keep silent. But I won't, because I don't want these appalling tactics to succeed.

I've always wanted to smoke a joint with Deidre Hall. I'm sure she'd be hilarious high.

If I was going to get stoned with anyone I'd choose Gerald Butler. He's so bizarre yet roguishly comforting.

I read that as hearing aids.

I saw Dee Dee about seven years ago in Chicago, at a fundraiser for a gay theater group.

She made fun of herself and had a great time - raising money for the theater company and for her own fundraiser as well.

She's 74 and this is a red carpet snapshot, not a retouched and carefully lit studio photo. She's pretty amazing looking.

When I read the first few posts here, I assumed she must be homophobic and conservative. Then I looked her up and read she opted out of wearing the ribbon because she didn't want to participate in signaling support without doing anything. Then someone posted the full op-ed and I can totally relate to both points she made about being harassed into wearing the ribbon and in choosing to show off support rather than to actively support when there should be a "war" on the epidemic. Good for her.

She seems like a decent person—so I have a sudden new theory. She must be kind to her doctors and her doctors in return are kind to her. Same with Jane Fonda (84), Joy Behar (80), Cher (75)...all have kind hearts and have had tons of cosmetic stuff done without looking like accident victims.

And then there's the famously unkind Madonna...

Better Red than dead.