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David Kirby died surrounded by his family. But
Therese Frare’s photograph of the 32-year-old man on
his deathbed did more than just capture the heartbreak-
ing moment. It humanized AIDS, the disease that killed
Kirby, at a time when it was ravaging victims largely
out of public view. Frare’s photograph, published in
life in 1990, showed how the widely misunderstood
disease devastated more than just its victims. It would
be another year before the red ribbon became a sym-
bol of compassion and resilience, and three years before
President Bill Clinton created a White House Office of
National AIDS Policy. In 1992 the clothing company
Benetton used a colorized version of Frare’s photograph
in a series of provocative ads. Many magazines refused
to run it, and a range of groups called for a boycott.
But Kirby’s family consented to its use, believing that
the ad helped raise critical awareness about AIDS at
a moment when the disease was still uncontrolled and
sufferers were lobbying the federal government to speed
the development of new drugs. “We just felt it was time
that people saw the truth about AIDS,” Kirby’s mother,
Kay, said. Thanks to Frare’s image, they did.