Talk:Ryan White

Ryan White's story
This life-story infuriates me! I know that my one voice isn't enough but maybe it'll inspire one of many friend on Facebook. I feel like sending a letter to those idiots at his school too! I'm so mad! But I'm also proud because I never heard him feeling like a victim, that's wisdom for such a young man! Wisdom that a lot of us could use!

I'm Lori Williams willial64@gmail.com

Presbyterian?
There is no evidence that White is a Presbyterian. The sources say that "The massive [Presbyterian] church was chosen [for his funeral] because it could accomodate a large crowd." I am removing the categories per WP:EGRS and WP:CATV. 2600:8800:1880:91E:5604:A6FF:FE38:4B26 (talk) 02:38, 29 June 2018 (UTC)


 * We know that Ryan and his family were Methodists. Their family had been members of a Methodist church in Kokomo, Indiana for three generations. In Weeding Out The Tears Jeanne White Ginder tells a family story about how her parents and grandparents relied upon the church during the Great Depression. It helps account for why she thought the congregation would be supportive and help care for them when Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS. 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:45, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In addition, in Weeding Out The Tears Jeanne White thought it was quite sad that Ryan couldn't have had his funeral at his own church. Not that she didn't appreciate the large church in Indianapolis. But he didn't have the funeral with his own congregation. A junior minister Ryan knew at the church did come to proceed over the funeral. Rev. Bud Probasco. Probasco later endorsed Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential primary in Indiana. Bud was impressed that Trump had shown some kindness to the family after Ryan died. 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:48, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Inconsistencies
White was diagnosed on December 17, 1984 with AIDS based on the CDC's surveillance definition then in force. Most critically, the Abbott Labs HIV test was not "approved" by the FDA until either March 2 or March 7 1985 (there is some evidence the FDA did not actually approve the test but HHS Secretary Margaret Heckler just announced it on March 7th as approved for political reasons and later the FDA pretended it had held an approval committee meeting on March 2cd - the reporting on this is by John Crewdson). For the rest of 1985, it was heavily rationed and only used for screening - not diagnostics. In other words there is no way during the School controversy that White could have had an HIV test - he was diagnosed with AIDS because he had PCP pneumonia - The HIV infection was purely presumptive. Even in 1987, over 70% of San Francisco's AIDS cases were diagnosed without an HIV test, and the CDC did not change its surveillance definition until 1987. Nowhere in the court pleadings does White ever claim he had HIV infection - it always says AIDS, and nowhere in Christopher McNeil's reporting for the Kokomo Tribune (300 articles) does he say White had HIV. He always said White had AIDS. Western Virginia Tech university professor Harry Bauer has stated that this diagnosis was incorrect because an AIDS diagnosis based on PCP Pneumonia under the 1984 criteria to have no other explanation - but there was a perfectly logical one: White's hemophilia.

According the McNeil, Jeanne White told the School Board that White "was infected with the AIDS Virus" in February 1984- but the test wasn't available in February 1984. She did this in response to the Schools asking about White's frequent absences - he missed the majority of his 7th grade courses. McNeil claimed he was tipped off about the White family from the Red Cross in early March 1985 when he was reporting on the Abbott Labs test - but what's strange is why would the Red Cross give out this type of personal information and why would McNeil disclose White's status to the public? There was a local television station that later filmed Jeanne White and McNeil embracing in a sexual manner and it caused a scandal. The White family made a-lot of money on the contraversy - the Goodfellows Foundation gave them $100,000, and the P/R savvy of the coverage is fairly self-evident.

In this context, I want to suggest that the P/R strategy was really about special education. There was legal precedent for requiring White to go into special education on account of his hemophelia and frequent absences but by claiming an AIDS diagnosis, White had legal standing to fight the School Corporation. Tellingly, White's death certificate was never released. Also, in regard to White's death, Radio announcements indicated White had been rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding, and later a graduate student of Harry Rubin at UC Berkeley named Brian Ellison called the Indiana Hemophelia Foundation, and was told by somebody with direct knowledge of the case that White died of complications from Hemophilia, not AIDS. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.126.71.24 (talk) 07:05, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * You have made a lot of claims here without a shred of evidence. We need reliable sources. Sundayclose (talk) 02:15, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Ryan received a clinical diagnosis of AIDs after suffering from a viral pneumonia. She was not aware that he was HIV positive prior to the diagnosis. The family had some concerns about reports of hemophiliacs having AIDS due to Factor 8 treatments, but never went to be tested. Not long after Ryan was diagnosed many hemophiliacs were given HIV tests. The vast majority of sever hemophiliacs were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. That's hemophiliacs that treated regularly with Factor 8. The hemophilia community told their members to keep treating and withheld information regarding tainted Factor 8 products. They also didn't want hemophiliacs to face the same public backlash as gays had up until that point. There was a common expression of "Hemo Not Homo" 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:52, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Adjustment to Paragraph Placement?
"During the 1980s, AIDS was largely stigmatized as an illness impacting the gay community. In the US, that perception shifted with the media focus placed on White and other prominent straight HIV-infected people such as Magic Johnson, Arthur Ashe and the Ray brothers, although these cases were often framed as "innocent" against gay men who were seen as "guilty" subjects."

This paragraph is placed 2nd in the article about Ryan White. I believe it is important information, yet I am curious why it was placed 2nd? As we read about the life of Ryan White it feel natural to move into the information of his youth and illness which we see in paragraph 3. It did not feel natural to move into a contemplation of HIV/AIDS on the gay community. This is an important topic to address, it may simply fit better at a later point in the article. Avaloowhoo (talk) 23:43, 15 September 2023 (UTC)


 * The portion of a Wikipedia article that comes before the first section header (in this article, the first two paragraphs) is the "lede"/"lead", which is a summary of the entire article. Arguably the main reason the White is notable enough to have a Wikipedia article is because he was one of the first non-homosexual people to become infected with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. The contents of the second paragraph reflect the last portion of the article, especially the section named "Ryan White and public perception of AIDS". Indyguy (talk) 04:38, 16 September 2023 (UTC)