Jump to content

Bobbi Campbell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2601:345:8301:94f3:ed99:3ccb:6929:794b (talk) at 18:23, 25 August 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bobbi Campbell
Born
Robert S. Campbell, Jr.

(1952-01-28)January 28, 1952
DiedAugust 15, 1984(1984-08-15) (aged 32)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesKaposi's Sarcoma (KS) Poster Boy
Known forAIDS activism

Robert S. "Bobbi" Campbell, Jr. ((1952-01-28)January 28, 1952 – (1984-08-15)August 15, 1984) was an early United States AIDS activist. In September 1981, Campbell became the 16th person in San Francisco to be diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma. He was the first to come out publicly as a person living with the then unnamed disease. He became known as the "KS Poster Boy" (even appearing with his partner on the cover of Newsweek on August 8, 1983), and wrote a column for the San Francisco Sentinel from January 1982 describing his experiences. Campbell, who was also a registered nurse, joined the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at the time of the health crisis in early 1982; in his "sister" persona as Sister Florence Nightmare, he co-authored the first San Francisco safer-sex manual, "Play Fair!", written in plain sex-positive language, offering practical advice and adding an element of humour.

In 1983, Campbell and Dan Turner, who had been diagnosed in February 1982, founded the People With AIDS Self-Empowerment Movement or PWA Movement.

The name "Bobbi Campbell" and the names of several other key figures of the time were featured in the 2007-08 American Mock Trial Association National Case Problem. The fictional case was used by over 300 colleges and universities throughout the United States and was dedicated to the social and scientific pioneers in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

He died of AIDS complications on August 15, 1984.

There is an audio interview with Campbell along with doctors Marcus Conant and Paul Volberding from January 1982 on the GLBT Historical Society website. The interview was conducted by San Francisco journalist Randy Alfred for The Gay Life program on KSAN-FM.

Campbell and his story were also featured in an early CBS News report on HIV on June 12, 1982.[1]

References

  1. ^ Trent, Grant. "Early CBS Report on AIDS". Youtube. Retrieved June 17, 2016.