Check out a book called "Radical Son" by David Horowitz. It's an autobiography about how he went from the editor of the neo-Marxist magazine "Ramparts" in the 1960's, supporting the Black Panthers and LGBT activists, to getting disgusted with the Left and becoming a conservative in the 1980's.

He talks about how the AIDS epidemic was the final straw for him. He was involved with the LGBT rights movement in San Francisco in the 1980's which was the epicenter.

LGBT activists refused to consider the possibility that AIDS might be an STD because they were afraid it might promote homophobia or something. He suspected it was an STD and pleaded with them to temporarily shut down the gay bathhouses to stop the spread but they were like "No that's fascism we need to have unprotected sex with strangers REEEEE"

Thousands of people died and when it was finally proven to be an STD the LGBT activists turned around and blamed Ronald Reagan and accused him of carrying out a campaign of genocide against LGBT people.

After that experience he was like "these people are nuts fuck this I'm out" lol.

It's eerily similar to the covid now that I think about it. The Left refused to acknowledge a threat for ideological reasons (racist against asian people or something?) until it got out of control then blamed conservatives.