GMAD gained federal nonprofit status in 1990. They received original funding from the US Conference of Mayors and the New York City AIDS Fund. Charles Angel, understood the need for black gay men in New York City to support each other in combating AIDS, homophobia, and racism. GMAD’s founder, Pentecostal minister Rev. They began offering services for persons with AIDS toward the beginning of the US pandemic which started in 1981. Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD), founded in 1986 in New York City, is one of the oldest organizations working toward the welfare of black gay men in the United States.