Bobbi Campbell

Bobbi Campbell
Bobbi Campbell (left), with his lover Bobby Hilliard, on the cover of Newsweek, August 8, 1983
Born
Robert Boyle Campbell, Jr.

(1952-01-28)January 28, 1952
Columbus, Georgia
DiedAugust 15, 1984(1984-08-15) (aged 32)
San Francisco, California
Cause of deathCryptosporidiosis, resulting from AIDS
Resting placeNew Tacoma Cemetery, Tacoma, Washington
NationalityAmerican
Other names
  • "KS poster boy"
  • "AIDS poster boy"
OccupationPublic health nurse
Known forAIDS activism, co-writing the Denver Principles

Robert Boyle "Bobbi" Campbell Jr. (January 28, 1952 – August 15, 1984)[1] was a public health nurse and an early United States AIDS activist. In September 1981, Campbell became the 16th person in San Francisco to be diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma,[2] when that was a proxy for an AIDS diagnosis.[3] He was the first to come out publicly as a person with what came to be known as AIDS,[4][5] writing a regular column in the San Francisco Sentinel, syndicated nationwide, describing his experiences[6] and posting photos of his KS lesions to help other San Franciscans know what to look for,[7][8][9] as well as helping write the first San Francisco safer sex manual.[10]

He rapidly became one of the leading activists co-founding People With AIDS San Francisco in 1982[4][5][11] and then, the following year, with HIV+ men from across the U.S., he co-wrote the Denver Principles,[4][11] the defining manifesto of the People With AIDS Self-Empowerment Movement.[4][11] Appearing on the cover of Newsweek and being interviewed on national news reports,[2][12][13] Campbell raised the national profile of the AIDS crisis among heterosexuals and provided a recognizable face of the epidemic for affected communities.[2] He also lobbied Margaret Heckler, Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan administration over both practical issues and stigmatising medical practices affecting people with AIDS.[14] He also continued to campaign for LGBT+ rights, speaking outside the 1984 Democratic National Convention[15] a month before his death from cryptosporidiosis.[16]

  1. ^ "Robert Boyle Campbell". California Death Index, 1940–1997. November 26, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2016 – via FamilySearch.
  2. ^ a b c Alexander Inglis (February 25, 2004). "The Exhumation of Bobbi Campbell (28 Jan 1952 – 15 Aug 1984)". Blogger. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  3. ^ Lawrence K. Altman (July 3, 1981). "Rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Michael Callen & Dan Turner (1988). "A History of the PWA Self-Empowerment Movement". In Michael Callen (ed.). Surviving and Thriving with AIDS: Collected Wisdom, Volume 2. New York City: People With AIDS Coalition. pp. 288–293. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Berkowitz, Richard (February 1997). "The Way We War". POZ. Archived from the original on June 16, 2002. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  6. ^ Brian Jones (August 16, 1984). "Bobbi Campbell's Long Fight Ends". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2016. Via the Online Searchable Obituary Database of the GLBT Historical Society
  7. ^ David France (December 1, 2016). How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS. Pan Macmillan. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-1-5098-3941-4. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Interview with Helen Schietinger, nurse coordinator of UCSF's first AIDS clinic, on January 30, 1995, by Sally Smith Hughes — in The AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco: The Response of the Nursing Profession, 1981–1984, volume I. The San Francisco AIDS Oral History Series. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 1999. p. 105.
  9. ^ Tez Anderson (June 17, 2015). "Walgreens HIV/AIDS Castro Spirit Historical Plaque". Let's Kick ASS—AIDS Survivor Syndrome. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  10. ^ Interview with Helen Schietinger, nurse coordinator of UCSF's first AIDS clinic, on January 30, 1995, by Sally Smith Hughes — in The AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco: The Response of the Nursing Profession, 1981–1984, volume I. The San Francisco AIDS Oral History Series. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 1999. p. 147.
  11. ^ a b c Raymond A. Smith; Patricia D. Siplon (2006). Drugs Into Bodies: Global AIDS Treatment Activism. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-0-275-98325-3. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  12. ^ Randy Shilts (November 3, 2011). And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic. Souvenir Press. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-285-64076-4.
  13. ^ Allen White (August 23, 1984). "Candles and Tears on Castro: 1,000 Mourn Bobbi Campbell". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2016. Via the Online Searchable Obituary Database of the GLBT Historical Society
  14. ^ David France (December 1, 2016). How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS. Pan Macmillan. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-5098-3941-4. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  15. ^ Bobbi Campbell speech (1984). GLBT Historical Society. July 15, 1984. Retrieved July 19, 2015 – via YouTube.[dead YouTube link]
  16. ^ David France (December 1, 2016). How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS. Pan Macmillan. pp. 153–154. ISBN 978-1-5098-3941-4. Retrieved September 21, 2017.