Ryan White

Ryan White (born December 6, 1971, Kokomo, Indiana, U.S.—died April 8, 1990, Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American teenager who became a national symbol after he contracted AIDS from an injection of factor VIII, a substance necessary for blood clotting, to treat his hemophilia. The stigmatization that White faced because of the disease, and his family’s subsequent fight against that mistreatment, made him a spokesperson for the fair treatment of HIV/AIDS sufferers and served to educate the American public about the disease.

White was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, at a time when very little was known about the disease and how it was spread. In 1985 he and his family demanded that he be allowed to attend the local school in Russiaville, Indiana, which had refused to admit him over ignorant fears of his condition. Although the White family eventually prevailed and White was admitted, he and his mother (Ryan’s parents were divorced) were verbally abused and harassed, and several local families pulled their children out of the school when he began attending. White and his mother then moved to the nearby town of Cicero, and he went to school in Arcadia, where the local school board sponsored public educational talks confronting myths about AIDS.

White’s youth, the tragedy of his disease, the harassment and bullying he received at school, and his remarkably positive attitude brought him to national attention. He soon became a public face of the AIDS epidemic, and he quickly drew supportive attention from many celebrities and other public figures, including musicians, actors, athletes, and politicians and other government officials. In 1988 he testified before the President’s Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic. The unfolding of his story helped to increase public awareness of the fact that HIV/AIDS is transmitted not through casual contact but rather by means of the direct transfer of bodily fluids, primarily in blood transfusions, shared hypodermic needles, or sexual activity. When White died in 1990, his funeral was attended by more than 1,500 people, including Michael Jackson and Elton John, both of whom he had befriended, and first lady Barbara Bush. In the same year, the federal Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act was adopted to provide funding for medical care and support services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS.