By the time she was six, Broadbent was sharing her story on TV, with the aim of educating the public and reducing stigma Hydeia Broadbent, an HIV/Aids activist who from a young age campaigned to reduce stigma around the virus, died on Tuesday in her home in Las Vegas. She was 39. Her father, Loren
A prominent HIV/AIDS activist known for her inspirational talks in the 1990s as a young child to reduce the stigma surrounding the virus she was born with has died. Hydeia Broadbent was 39. Her father said in a Facebook post that she had died unexpectedly Tuesday “after living with Aids since birth,” but didn t provide more details. A 7-year-old Broadbent became a national symbol of HIV when she joined Magic Johnson on a 1992 Nickelodeon channel TV special, where the basketball legend talked about his own HIV diagnosis. Broadbent made the talk show circuit as a child, met the president and first lady, spoke at the 1996 Republican National Convention and was featured on a segment on ABC’s “20/20.”
Hydeia Broadbent, the HIV/AIDS activist who came to national prominence in the 1990s as a young child for her inspirational talks to reduce the stigma surrounding the virus she was born with, has died. She was 39.