Ryan White
Ryan White, (born Dec. 6, 1971, Kokomo, Ind., U.S.—died April 8, 1990, Indianapolis, Ind.), American teenager who became a national symbol after he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion given to treat his hemophilia. The stigmatization White faced because of the disease, and his family’s subsequent fight against that discrimination, made him a spokesman for fair treatment for HIV/AIDS sufferers and served to educate the 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 spreads. In 1985 he and his family demanded that he be allowed to attend the local school in Kokomo, Ind., that had refused to admit him over fears of his condition. Although the White family prevailed in a court case against the school district and White was admitted, he was verbally abused and harassed there, and several families pulled their children out of the school when he began attending. White’s family 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 and the harassment he received brought him to national attention. He was interviewed in the press and quickly achieved a level of celebrity after being invited to the White House and an Academy Awards ceremony. The unfolding of Ryan White’s story served to inform Americans that HIV/AIDS was being transmitted primarily by means of blood transfusions, shared needles, or sexual activity—and not casually. When White died in 1990, his funeral was attended by more than 1,500 people, including then first lady Barbara Bush and singers Elton John and Michael Jackson. That same year the federal Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act was signed into law to provide funding for medical care and support services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS.