I agree that he turned a corner, but you need to understand what it took to push him:

• The Scientist's May 21, 1990 report ("Demonstrating Discontent") describes roughly 1,000 activists storming the NIH campus, with signs ranging from "We're Fired Up" to "Fuck You, Fauci," and Fauci racing down the stairs of Building 31 (The Scientist, 1990).
• The same 1990 event featured "Fauci's head on a stick" effigies, signs reading "120,000 AIDS Deaths, Courtesy NIH," air horns blasted every 12 seconds to mark AIDS deaths, and the chant "NIH, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide" (Zinn Education Project's account of the May 21, 1990 action).

It was lots of massive protests. Only after this massive pressure did he give. I would also like to add that in 1983 he gave an interview implying that household contacts can transmit AIDS, luckily Princess Diana's counter-gesture in 1987 is best understood as a response to the lingering stigma.