I actually heard the opposite theory, that it accelerated the gay rights movement. This is based on the idea that the most important weapon in the advance of gay rights has been the increasing visibility of glbt people in every arena of life.
In the 1970's, according to the theory, openly gay people were a phenomenon mainly of a few large cities. Most Americans knew a "confirmed bachelor" or two women who were "roommates" for 30 years, but they didn't know any "gay" people. And closeted gay people enjoyed the freedom of not having to deal with any backlash. Don't ask, don't tell.
AIDS changed everything. Gay men started getting visible lesions, starting dying, all over the country. In tons of families. In tons of workplaces. And their friends and relatives were forced to face the harsh light of reality for the first time.
For those gay men not infected, they spent their time going to more funerals than most 80-year-olds, while society at large seemed completely indifferent. Keeping their mouths shut suddenly had less appeal.
According to the theory, it was AIDS that destroyed the "closet", both for those infected and for those who weren't. And once gay people were everywhere, gay rights became pretty much unstoppable.
Fascinating, you may be right.
I know people who lived through it. As tough as it was, people also got to see how one partner would look after the other one from cleaning up feces to spoon feeding them when no one else would touch them. It was love in it's harshest and people couldn't ignore that even if it took them a while to process it.
