In 1985, due to complaints and fears from parents and teachers, a thirteen-year-old hemophiliac from Kokomo, Indiana, was expelled from middle school because acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. (AIDS) has become common knowledge. In 1986, forty-one years after the Holocaust, conservative journalist William F. Buckley, Jr. proposed that "...anyone diagnosed with AIDS should have a tattoo on the upper forearm, to protect users of common needles, and on the buttocks, to prevent them from becoming infected. the victimization of other homosexuals.” In 1992, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson retired from basketball due to protests from his teammates after revealing his positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In 2012, an openly gay and HIV-positive college professor was forced to resign from his position after widespread harassment and verbal abuse (Hardesty). These pervasive incidents of discrimination against HIV-positive people demonstrate that the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS is as damaging, though slightly less prevalent, today as it was three and a half decades ago, when the first cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States. States. It is therefore crucial to carefully examine 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 treatment programs. HIV/AIDS education aimed at reducing stigma. had been present in Africa for decades, it first appeared in the Western world in 1981, when previously healthy young gay men in the United States suddenly began exhibiting what would later be called infections opportunists 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 Responses to AIDS.” » American Psychologist 43.11 (1988): 886-891. Print. “HIV/AIDS 101.” AIDS.gov. United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2014. Web. April 25, 2014. “Immune System 101.” AIDS.gov. United States 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 STDs 20.5 (2006): 359-368. Print.Shilts, Randy. And the band played on: politics, people and the AIDS epidemic. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Print.