The disclosure of Hudson's AIDS diagnosis provoked widespread public discussion of his homosexual identity. In "", gay author Armistead Maupin, who was a friend of Hudson, writes that he was the first person to confirm to the press that Hudson was gay in 1985. Maupin explains that he said it to Randy Shilts of the "San Francisco Chronicle" and that he was annoyed that producer Ross Hunter, who was gay, denied it. In its August 15, 1985 issue, "People" magazine published a story that discussed his disease in the context of his sexuality. The largely sympathetic article featured comments from show business colleagues such as Angie Dickinson, Robert Stack, and Mamie Van Doren, who claimed they knew about Hudson's homosexuality and expressed their support for him. At that time, "People" had a circulation of more than 2.8 million, and, as a result of this and other stories, Hudson's homosexuality became fully public. Hudson's revelation had an immediate impact on the visibility of AIDS, and on the funding of medical research related to the disease.