Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of Magic Johnson announcing to the world that he was HIV+. Sports talk shows were filled yesterday with where were you when stories, and I honestly don't remember where I was. I remember the day and I remember thinking Magic was not long for this world, and I also remember Elizabeth Glaser telling him before she died that the drug cocktail came along too late to save her, but that she knew he was going to make it. I also remember what a shock it was that he contracted it and how I don't really to this day believe his story about how he contracted it. I do think that because he did contract it, that he mainstreamed HIV and people became much more willing to discuss it and that was very much needed at the time.
What was his story about how he contracted it? I don't remember this.
ReplyDeleteI remember where I was because like my father, I was a HUGE Laker fan at the time. I was driving down the freeway towards my community college where I was a student athletic trainer and the news came on the radio. I was stunned. I could barely park my car and walk into the training room where I took one look at the Athletic Trainer and burst into tears (he was also a huge Laker fan). It was a death sentence at that time, and I remember for about 5 years we all kept waiting for signs that Magic was getting sick and it never happened.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate what he has done in the last 20 years. Lord knows he can be kind of hard to understand at times, he speaks a very 'unique' style of English, but he is so charismatic and so hard working, I have to respect him. He screwed up a few years ago when he advertised one of those predator check cashing services, but he learned from that mistake and moved on.
I'm also suspicious of his story, but whatever. Making the disease 'mainstream' and more easily talked about is far more important than speculating if Magic liked to play around with boys on the side.
Patty - he at first said he didn't know how he got it, then admitted to unprotected sex with multiple partners throughout his basketball career. He accused Isiah Thomas of spreading rumors that he was gay or bisexual. At the time, a small percentage of HIV cases were from heterosexual sex.
ReplyDeletei believe that with Easy-E and Freddy Mercury,he's the one&only seropositive celebrity whom i know (i don't forget Rock Hudson but i don't remember him)
ReplyDeletePs:with Charlotte Valendrey (a french actress)
i think that this is one of those cases where out of tragedy something good can come. idk, nor do i concern myself w/, how/why he contracted the virus...but i'm so very thankful that he's been so proactive in bringing it to the forefront and removing some of the stigma.
ReplyDeletei hope he continues his healthy streak...i can't imagine how difficult it must be.
If I recall, first he said he had no idea how he contracted it, then he said it was from multiple female sex partners. At the time there were rumors that he contracted it through gay sex which was considered (again, at the time) more likely. That said, my mother contracted AIDS from heterosexual sex around the same. The drug cocktail didn't help her though and she passed away two years later.
ReplyDeleteLizzeh beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good thing that a major sports figure came out about being HIV positive, because it did suddenly make it the disease that could happen to anyone.
ReplyDeleteAnd for celebs who died of AIDS, this is the most unbelievable - Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke.
Thanks guys. It's coming back to me now.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lady on Oprah who sued her partner for giving her aids And won. When Oprah brought up magic the lady gave her a tongue lashing and said that magic does NOT represent them as he has the money to try experimental drugs. They are relegated to what's available and covered
ReplyDeleteAnd in a couple weeks it will be 20 years since Freddie died. I remember that more
I couldn't give a flying flip how he contacted it. The very fact that he already shared something so very personal means he does not have to qualify any thing else he is saying. I respected him at the time for coming out and admitting he had it. I respect him even more for continuing to survive it and showing it can be done.
ReplyDeleteHis story is so phony. Then AND now, it is very difficult for a man to contract aids through heterosexual sex. He would have to have a herpes outbreak or some sort of open cut on his thing.
ReplyDeleteI remember the day he came out and shared the news - I was in high school. I also remember thinking he wouldn't have long to live - it was considered a death sentence back then. I truly believed he humanized HIV by coming forward - I don't really care how he got it. Like, at all.
ReplyDeleteUnknown, I completely agree. I'm an RN and through all of my micro and anatomy classes, most of my instructors (some were MD's) didn't believe him either. Some even doubted he was HIV+. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I definitely think for anyone in the medical field, his story doesn't add up.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what his real story is that is his business.
ReplyDeleteBut being a teenager back then it definetly made me and people around me more aware about using condoms.
Since we're all adults here I think it's safe to use the biological/anatomical term penis. Really, its no different than saying 'breast' or 'hand'.
ReplyDeleteMama Mia, I thought that he had a slightly different strain of HIV than what is common? Isn't there one that some people get that ends up being basically cured?
ReplyDeleteFS - penis, penis, penis, penis. There you go. ;)
"I truly believed he humanized HIV by coming forward - I don't really care how he got it. Like, at all."
Amen, sister! He probably knocked years off of the time to acceptance of HIV in our culture. Although, as we typically do, we've swung too far in the other direction, to the point where people are no longer properly respectful of the danger from the disease.
All I can think about is the South Park episode where Magic Johnson helps them discover that money is the cure for AIDS. Lots and lots of money.
ReplyDeleteJoking aside - I'm so sorry to hear that Cheryl.
"Penist!"
ReplyDeleteI was in middle school when he announced this and I remember being shocked, but it definitely brought a lot more awareness, at least for me about HIV.
@Lelaina
ReplyDeleteI was *just* getting ready to type that same thing when I scrolled down to your post! LOL
Peenist......
Sorry Cheryl about your loss.
ReplyDeleteI was reading an article on Magic in the LA Times, and they mentioned that he takes 3 pills twice a day. When they asked specifically which pills, he refused to say, saying he swore to his doctors that he would never reveal it. He then explained that what works for him will probably not work for others.
If everything is truly on the up-and-up, what's the big deal about sharing what meds you're on, unless you're either in a trial or taking meds that haven't yet been approved?
Actually the woman on Oprah sued her ex-husband for infecting her with HIV, not giving her AIDS. And her husband at the time, John was a closet case having sex with men and tried to convince Bridget that he gave it to her when she found out she had it. Yeah; she's a friend of mine. I know her story inside and out.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY MAGAZINE use to do a yearly tribute to everyone who died of AIDS. Nothing brought home the disease like this did. I would look at it and see many character actors and industry people who this disease took away. It showed how AIDS touched something you might watch, read or listen too.
ReplyDeleteIt showed that these talented people were gone. I think someone needs to do this again.
Am i missing something? re: Unkown..are you saying hetero males can't get aids? Blasphemy!
ReplyDeleteTotal ditto on pookie.
Cheryl, that's tragic about your Mom. That must have been really difficult to deal w/ & get thru :(
@RenoBlondee - That part of NG made me giggle :) Peeeniiisst.
ReplyDeleteActually, on that part of New Girl, the closed captioning said what she said was "pianist," as in, a person who plays piano, just pronounced very much like *that word* that she had trouble saying. Hope that doesn't ruin it for anyone; I still thought it was funny.
ReplyDeleteBlogger Unknown said...
ReplyDelete"His story is so phony. Then AND now, it is very difficult for a man to contract aids through heterosexual sex."
Blogger mygeorgie said...
"Am i missing something? re: Unkown..are you saying hetero males can't get aids? Blasphemy!"
The probability of transmission is about a *hundred* times higher for a woman than a man in case of vaginal sex.
HIV/AIDS is rampant in parts of Africa, primarily due to heterosexual sex.
ReplyDeleteMagic has been taking a protease inhibitor cocktail which has made the virus levels undetectable. He can still infect others.
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ReplyDelete