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A recent report shows just how disproportionately the Black community is affected by HIV/AIDS, and the criminalization of being HIV positive. From that article in The Advocate, "Black Americans accounted for about 38 percent of new HIV diagnoses and 39 percent of people living with HIV in 2023, according to a report from the Williams Institute, despite making up around 12 percent of the population." This rate of new infections hits Black women the hardest, at 19.6 of 100,000 people, 11 times the rate of infection for white women. Black people affected by HIV are also less likely to have insurance, and less likely to be under a doctor's care and receive medication for their condition. Given these statistics, Throwback Thursday looks back at 6 Black activists who fought for their community in the more nascent days of the disease.
As a Black man living with HIV in the 80s, Angel recognized the vast disparity of service and care that his community received versus their white counterparts. Not that white gay men were receiving all that much. But Black gay men were disproportionately underserved and often ignored by their white gay brothers and sisters. At a meeting of the newly formed Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in Manhattan, Angel discussed the need to address the special needs of Black men. Out of that July 1986 gathering, Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) was created, the first gay Black political activism organization. Their mission was as a “support group dedicated to consciousness-raising and the development of the Lesbian and Gay community, inclusive of African, Afro-American, Caribbean, and [Hispanic/Latino] men of color.” (The Advocate, 2/9/2026.) Angel would succumb to AIDS complications later that year, but his work lived well beyond him.
Broadbent became the youngest HIV/AIDS activist when she was born with the infection, abandoned as an infant and adopted, and thrust into the national spotlight as she spoke with the eloquence and truth only a child can deliver. She would be 3 years old before her adoptive parents discovered her HIV status. She was only 6 when her activism began, and by 12 had appeared on the national stage on such shows as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, Good Morning America, Magic Johnson's 1992 Nickelodeon special, “A Conversation with Magic Johnson.” She would spend the next few decades speaking and educating about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention by promoting abstinence and safe-sex practices. Broadbent died in 2024 at the age of 39.
Johnson is definitely the most recognizable face on this list, having spent 12 triumphant years with the LA Lakers basketball team before he rocked the sporting world and Black community in 1991 when he announced he was retiring and had been living with HIV. His announcement defied preconceived notions. HIV and AIDS were pretty much only associated with gay men, and it was considered a death sentence, given the dearth of life-saving drugs yet to be developed. Later that year, he founded the Magic Johnson Foundation, which, according to reporting in The Advocate, "has provided over 40,000 free HIV screenings in 8 states, focusing on reaching the most vulnerable populations. The foundation has also provided over 700 inner-city youth with four-year college scholarships, given 45,000 children in need with toys, bikes, and Christmas trees during the holidays, and supplied over 20,000 families with food, clothing, and gifts." It still continues 35 years later, as does Johnson, as well, living a healthy and happy life, despite his HIV status.
Since working in several LA-based AIDS/HIV organisations since the beginning of the pandemic, Wilson has gone on over the decades to be one of the most prominent organisers and activists. Besides working with several White House administrations and serving on the boards of organizations including the National Association of Black and White Men Together, the National AIDS Network, the AIDS Action Council, and the Minority AIDS Projectm Wlson is the founder and former Executive Officer of Black AIDS Institute. BAI is the only national organization that directs its attention solely to the Black community.
Cooper has been fighting this diesease wince the early 90's. In an interview with Gilead, she explained that “AIDS decimated Black gay clubs. There’s no other way to describe it. We’d be partying together, and a couple of weeks later, there’d be a funeral announcement. My very best friend died when I was 23.” From passing out condoms and informational literature for Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, she would eventually become the first Black trans woman appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, under Joe Biden's administration. She would also co-found Sistas Too with the CDC, an effort to reduce HIV transmissions within the trans community. Cooper currently works with the director of strategic outreach and training for the Human Rights Campaign.
As Desiree Guerrero explains over at The Advocate, Moore is "a shining example of what HIV activism looks like today. " He's been a speaker and activist since his own HIV diagnosis as a 19-year-old college student. He's been a GLAAD award-winning public speaker and educator for a decade now. "From 2020 to 2022, Moore served as director of community engagement at Prevention Access Campaign, an organization with a goal of creating awareness around U=U, or “undetectable equals untransmittable.” U=U is a scientifically proven fact which states that an HIV-positive person who is on treatment and has an undetectable viral load has zero chance of transmitting the virus to a sexual partner, even without the use of a condom." He helped press the Biden administration and Dr. Anthony Fauci's CDC to incorporate the message of U=U into their education outreach and training.
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