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Advocacy for AIDS research and patient care

In the 1980s, Bernstein was frustrated that the Reagan Administration took so long to acknowledge the existence of the AIDS epidemic, let alone provide resources for research and patient care. Bernstein was galvanized to provide advocacy however he could. In a written statement for a June 1983 benefit for AIDS advocacy in Houston, Bernstein wrote: "AIDS is not, repeat not, the Gay Plague it is so often made out to be; it is part of the human condition, and must be universally researched and annihilated."

On April 30, 1983, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Bernstein participated in one of the earliest HIV / AIDS fundraisers, which raised over $250,000 for the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). Bernstein conducted the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Orchestra with mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett in " The Star-Spangled Banner ".

On November 8, 1987, Bernstein participated in another event to benefit the Gay Men's Health Crisis. The concert at Carnegie Hall, "Music for Life", was dedicated to Dr. Mathilde Krim and her work at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR). Bernstein was joined by Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

On November 15, 1989, Bernstein refused the National Medal of Arts from President George H. W. Bush in protest against the revoked National Endowment for the Arts grant for a New York exhibit of AIDS-related art.