David Kirby was born in a small Ohio town, where he had a difficult adolescence due to his sexuality. After graduation, he moved to California, and he became an outspoken AIDS activist as the disease devastated the country in the 1980s. Then, he learned that he'd contracted HIV. Although he was estranged from his family at the time, Kirby called his parents and asked if he could come home to Ohio to die surrounded by his loved ones. After undergoing treatment at a local hospital, he was ultimately transferred to Pater Noster House, a hospice facility for AIDS patients.
He died there on May 5, 1990, at age 32 — but David Kirby's story wasn't over. A photojournalism student named Therese Frare had taken photos of Kirby on his deathbed, and one was published in "LIFE" later that year. Today, it's one of the most iconic images from the epidemic, and it revealed the true devastation of AIDS at a time when the disease was still largely misunderstood by the general public. Learn more about David Kirby and his tragic final moments.
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| photo by Therese Frare |
