In 1985, due to complaints and fears from parents and teachers, a thirteen-year-old hemophiliac from Kokomo, Indiana, was expelled from middle school due to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) the diagnosis became public knowledge. In 1986, forty-one years after the Holocaust, conservative journalist William F. Buckley, Jr. proposed that “…all those diagnosed with AIDS should be tattooed on the upper forearm, to protect needle users common, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals." In 1992, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson retired from basketball due to protests from teammates after he revealed he tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In 2012, an openly gay HIV-positive middle school teacher was forced to resign from his position after much harassment and verbal abuse (Hardesty). These ubiquitous incidents of discrimination against HIV/AIDS-positive individuals demonstrate that the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS is just as harmful, if slightly less prevalent, today as it was three and a half decades ago, when the first AIDS cases in the United States. States. Therefore, it is critical to carefully consider the deleterious effect of this stigma on issues related to treatment seeking, treatment adherence, and the quality of treatment provided, in order to highlight the importance of HIV/AIDS education programs aimed at reduce stigma. had been present in Africa for decades, first appeared to the Western world in 1981, when previously healthy young gay men in the United States suddenly began to have what were later known as opportunistic infections such as Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer in Africa. which dark purple abrasions appear...... middle of paper ......18. Print.Greene, Warner C. “A History of AIDS: Looking Back to See Forward.” European Journal of Immunology 37.1 (2007): S94-102. Print.Hardesty, Greg. “HIV-positive teacher sues private school.” Orange County Register June 14, 2012. Print.Herek, Gregory M., and Eric K. Glunt. “An Epidemic of Stigma: Public Reactions to AIDS.” American Psychologist 43.11 (1988): 886-891. Print.“HIV/AIDS 101”. AIDS.gov. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014. Web. April 25, 2014. “Immune System 101.” AIDS.gov. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011. Web. April 25, 2014. Rintamaki, Lance S., et al. “Social Stigma Concerns and HIV Medication Adherence.” Care of Patients with AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases 20.5 (2006): 359-368. Print.Shilts, Randy. And the band played about: politics, people and the AIDS epidemic. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Print.