(WHSV) - 34 years ago on Nov. 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced his sudden retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
At the time, many Americans saw AIDS as a gay, white man’s disease, [according to History.com](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-7/magic-johnson-announces-he-is-hiv-positive). Johnson, a straight Black man, was one of the first sports stars to make his status publicly known.
[HIV was still seen as a death sentence](https://hopeandhelp.org/hiv-aids-is-not-the-death-sentence-it-once-was-heres-why/) at the time for those who contracted the disease. It wasn’t until several years later that breakthroughs in “highly active anti-retroviral therapy” would allow for those with the disease to manage it. Today, people diagnosed with HIV can live long, healthy lives — similar to those without the disease— with the help of anti-retroviral medication.
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