December 1 marks World AIDS Day, a virus that has claimed the lives of some 40.4 million people worldwide, according to the WHO. AIDS is the most advanced phase of HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that destroys the CD4 cells of the immune system, which are responsible for fighting infections.
Without treatment, HIV can gradually deteriorate health, leading to the onset of AIDS. Even so, the WHO estimates that by the end of December 2022, 30 million people are already receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) to suppress HIV replication. The medications reduce the viral load, and the goal is for the virus concentration to be undetectable. If this is achieved, people with HIV have no risk of transmitting the disease through sexual relations, and their immune system regains its ability to fight infections.
AIDS continues to be one of the most stigmatized viral infections, which is why many celebrities have gotten involved to debunk myths and prejudices related to the disease. Some made their diagnosis public, such as Rock Hudson or Gia Caragni, and others have opted to give visibility to the cause thanks to its media impact, such as Madonna or Elton John.
The actor was the first well-known face to make his illness public in 1985. Rock Hudson broke, to a certain extent, the stereotypes that surrounded people with AIDS in an era marked by the ‘four-hour rule’: people with AIDS They were heroin addicts, hemophiliacs, homosexuals or Haitians. In fact, the statement was a coming out of the double closet: that of sexuality and that of AIDS. The actor was married to a secretary in the 1950s to hide his attraction to men.
The interpreter of Giant, Heaven for Two or What Heaven Gives Us, died two months after reporting that he was suffering from the disease. “I am not happy about having AIDS, but if these words can help others, at least I will know that my misfortune has a positive value,” he wrote.
Rock Hudson’s announcement had a multiple impact: it raised the visibility of AIDS, driving a mobilization around the disease. The actress Elizabeth Taylor, a great friend, also led the fight against AIDS by promoting fund-raising events, preventive campaigns… The actor’s message was crucial in promoting research, and in the following decades he went from ignoring everything about the disease. to identify the cause and have a treatment to control the infection.
The British singer and pianist has been committed to the cause for more than 30 years, despite not having contracted the HIV virus. Elton John, who has battled alcohol and drug addiction, admitted to becoming a “major cocaine addict” during his friend Ryan White’s battle with AIDS until his death in 1990. He wrote in the Daily Mail that “ Ryan changed the course of a deadly epidemic and helped save millions of lives.” But when Ryan died in April 1990 at age 18, “he didn’t know how to talk to anyone unless his nose was full of cocaine and his stomach was full.” of alcohol.”
After his funeral he felt “deeply ashamed” for not having been able to fight the disease when his friends needed him. “Ryan’s funeral was one of the key points of my life. It affected me so much that there was no doubt: either I would change, or I would end up dead.” Two years later, in 1992, he created the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), which has raised $565 million worldwide. The resources are used for AIDS research, to help people living with HIV and the financing of innovative prevention programs.
The Queen vocalist made it public that he had AIDS in 1991. Despite having wanted to lead his private life with total discretion, rumors had been circulating for some time before his announcement. The artist suffered from HIV during a very complicated time: not only did he have to fight against prejudices about this disease, but he also experienced tense situations due to his sexual orientation. His health was an easy target at a time when the AIDS epidemic was ravaging the gay community.
Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with the disease in the spring of 1987, but decided to keep it a secret to “protect the privacy” of those around him. It was not until 1991, when his health had worsened, that he made it public in a statement: “The time has come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth, and I hope that you will all join me.” , to my doctors and to all those who fight against this terrible disease.
Coincidentally, just 24 hours later, on November 24, he died at the age of 45. His decision to support anyone who had to face stigma made him a leader in the fight against HIV. That same year, Brian May and Roger Taylor, members of the iconic music group Queen, created the charity The Mercury Phoenix Trust (TMP) to raise funds against AIDS. TMP has already donated £18 million to small organisations.
One of the first people she told was Elton John, who remembers the moment in the book Love is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS. loss and the end of AIDS): “Freddie told me he had AIDS shortly after he was diagnosed in 1987. I was devastated. I had seen what the disease had done to many of my friends. I knew exactly what it was going to do to him.” to do to Freddie. As it was. He knew he was going to die, that an agonizing death was going to come. But Freddie had incredible courage… and he remained as funny, flamboyant and deeply generous as he had always been.”
The basketball player discovered that he was a carrier of the AIDS virus after a medical examination prior to the 91-92 season. Earvin Magic Johnson was 32 years old and at the peak of his career. The Los Angeles Lakers point guard appeared before the media at the Inglewood Forum to make the official statement: “I played against the best of the best, like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. And I always thought it was the hardest thing in my life. But to be traveling home to tell my wife Cooke that she had HIV, that was really the hardest moment.”
He was not the first great figure to make the disease visible, but he was the first heterosexual man to do so. Since Magic Johnson declared that he had HIV, he began a new awareness that the virus had no predilection according to sexuality. Years later, the discovery of the magnitude of the disease in Africa – precisely due to heterosexual relations – helped to overturn these prejudices.
The NBA icon returned to play with the ‘Dream Team’ that defended the colors of the United States at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, before retiring. He wore the sneakers again for a brief period of time in the 95-96 season, although his team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Magic Johnson continues to play his game off the court to this day.
Although AIDS is usually related to and made visible through male voices, it also affects women. Gia Carangi, considered the first supermodel of the 1980s, contracted the disease at the beginning of her career. Caragni was diagnosed in 1984 and was one of the first women in the United States to go public that she had AIDS.
The model’s childhood was marked by the conflict in her environment, which led her to a strong drug addiction. Photographer Francesco Scavullo writes in his book Scavullo Women that Gia explained to him the reason for her dependence on drugs: “By using them I felt as bad as I thought society was… the world seemed to be based on money and sex. And I was looking for better things than that, like happiness, love and affection.”
Caragni lived fast and died young. After having starred on the covers of major fashion publications (Vogue, Cosmopolitan) at just 17 years old, he used a large part of his income to buy heroin. Despite having attended rehabilitation, nothing and no one managed to get her out of the hole she was sinking into. The supermodel died six months after contracting the disease, making her the first famous woman to be diagnosed with the AIDS virus and die from it.
The artist and activist reflected the spirit of New York’s creative scene from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Keith Haring was an artistic icon who fought for various social causes. He was especially known for his involvement in demanding recognition of the LGTBI community, highly marginalized in the last decades of the 20th century for being related to the AIDS epidemic.
Haring died two years after his diagnosis of the disease. The artist, who put all his effort into painting in public spaces in world capitals, from New York and San Francisco to Berlin and Paris, left a final message for the destigmatization of the disease in Barcelona. A few months before his death, he painted on a building in Raval, then the Chinatown, the message “all together we can stop AIDS.” The mural was destroyed in 1992 due to the Catalan Olympic dream and the reform of the neighborhood, and today only a reproduction of the work remains in the Macba.
The winner of Eurovision 2014 was forced to confess that she has HIV due to threats from her ex-partners and the blackmail to which she was being subjected for this disease. Tom Newirth, best known for her musical persona Conchita Wurst, made a statement claiming that “coming out is better than being discovered by third parties.”
“Today is the day to free myself from the sword of Damocles for the rest of my life: I have been HIV positive for many years. “Actually, this is irrelevant to the public, but an ex-boyfriend is threatening me to make this private information public and in the future I will not give anyone the right to scare me and influence my life in that way.”
The singer assures that since receiving the diagnosis a few years ago she has been undergoing uninterrupted medical treatment, and that her illness is not contagious. Conchita Wurst took advantage of the message to join the list of celebrities who are fighting to break the prejudices of the virus. “I hope to give courage and take another step against the stigmatization of people who have become infected with HIV through their own behavior or through causes beyond their control.”
The actor announced in 2015 that he is HIV positive, and that he spent four years paying millions of dollars to people around him to keep it a secret. In an interview on the Today program, on the American network NBC, he nervously explained: “I am here to admit that I am HIV positive. From today I am freed from this prison.” Charlie Sheen made the statement with a mission: “I have the responsibility to improve and help many people with this announcement. They are three difficult letters to accept. It is a turning point in one’s life.”
The diva has made a display of references to the fight against AIDS during her career. The last of them was during his time in Barcelona at the beginning of November 2023. During the two concerts of his Celebration Tour that he held at the Palau Sant Jordi, he wanted to take the opportunity to pay tribute to several famous people who died from AIDS, such as Martin Burgoyne, Keith Haring, Freddie Mercury and Robert Mapplethorpe. The most heartfelt memory of her came with Live to tell, a song she performed while the screens showed images of her friends and artists.