‘I miss you Ryan White, You taught us how to stand and fight’ – Michael Jackson
On April 8th 1990, Ryan White passed away at the age of 18. Any death that young is certainly tragic, but Ryan’s had a element to it that seized the nation’s attention.
Ryan White had AIDS.
AIDS was first officially recognised by the CDC in 1981, where it began killing young gay men in San Fransisco and New York City. Originally named GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency), it was later understood by the scientific community that the disease spread in many ways.
Despite this, discrimination against people suffering from AIDS was rampant. Many associated it with immorality and promisicuity, some even deeming it a ‘judgement from God’.
A central figure in changing hearts and minds was the central figure of this article.
Ryan was born in Indiana in 1971, after which he was diagnoised with haemophila A. This was a hereditary disorder, in which even minor injures could result in severe bleeding. For most of his childhood, he received weekly infusions of Factor VIII, a blood product created from pooled plasma of non-hemophiliacs, an increasingly common treatment for hemophiliacs at the time.
However, he was diagnoised with AIDS in December 1984, having received a contaminated treatment of Factor VIII.
Living in a climate of total fear, Ryan was kicked out of his middle school, after mounting pressure from parents. A petition had been circulated calling for him to be banned, that was signed by an astonishing 117 parents and 50 teachers.
In the 1980s, there were a lot of misconceptions about how AIDS could be spread. Many feared they could contaminated by:
- Breathing the same air
- Touching a toilet seat or door knob or handle
- Drinking from a water fountain
- Hugging, kissing, or shaking hands
- Sharing eating utensils
So, given the attitudes of the time, it’s understandable to see how such ignorance could have driven people like Ryan into isolation.
Though he eventually won the right to return to school, he had a miserable time. People on the streets would yell “We know you’re a queer, Ryan!”, he was segregated at school from other students and somebody fired a gun through the family living room window.
However, despite his hardships, Ryan became something of a national poster-boy for AIDS. Befriended by celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Elton John, Ryan still disliked the spotlight and longed to be a ordinary person.
Regardless of all the gifts thrown upon him by celebrity friends, Ryan would have traded it all for freedom from that disease.
AIDS is not a thing of the past- the CDC estimates that 1, 218, 400 people are living with the disease…and that’s just in America. It’s a grimmer picture worldwide, where 1.2 million have died of AIDS in 2015.
And the ignorance against the disease continues to persist. It’s still seen as solely a ‘gay issue’, rather than something that everybody should be concerned about.
There needs to be a improved campaign to educate, to inform and to dispell the mistruths.
Ryan White isn’t alive anymore, but he should be honoured by a country that can look past bias and ignorance, to see the person suffering beneath the label.
