The Assassination of Gianni Versace is not just about the takedown of the day’s most famous fashion designer, but also of the homophobia and stigmas prevalent during the time period leading up to his death.

Actor Edgar Ramirez steps into the iconic shoes of the titular designer in the next installment of Ryan Muphy’s American Crime Story anthology series. The show will not only tackle Versace’s death but also the events in his life that paralleled those of his killer, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), the most significant of which was Versace’s HIV diagnosis in the mid 1990s.

Ramirez sat down with TV Guide at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Friday and explained how issues like HIV and homophobia will take center stage when the series premieres later this month.

“The AIDS crisis — the AZTs and new medications were kicking in and some people had access to it. People weren’t physically condemned to death at that time, but socially they were still condemned to death, to death socially,” he said. “Part of what we wanted to explore is all the prejudice, all the misrepresentation and all the stigmas that lead up to his assassination.”

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story premieres Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10/9c on FX.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Will Expose the Stigmas of the ’90s