Editing Ryan White (section)

==Legacy==
Ryan White was one of a handful of highly visible people with AIDS in the 1980s and early 1990s who helped change the public perception of the disease. Ryan, along with actor [[Rock Hudson]], was one of the earliest public faces of AIDS. Other public figures who were infected with HIV included [[Keith Haring]], [[Holly Johnson]], [[Freddie Mercury]], the [[Ray brothers]], [[Magic Johnson]], [[Greg Louganis]], [[Arthur Ashe]], [[Liberace]], [[Eazy-E]], [[Tim Richmond]], [[Anthony Perkins]], [[Randy Shilts]], [[Ricky Wilson (American musician)|Ricky Wilson]], [[Ofra Haza]], [[Robert Reed]], and [[Jerry Smith (tight end)|Jerry Smith]]. Ryan White helped to increase public awareness that HIV/AIDS was a significant epidemic.<ref name="AIDS media">{{cite book |last=Brodie |first=Mollyann |url=http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/AIDS-at-21-Media-Coverage-of-the-HIV-Epidemic-1981-2002-Supplement-to-the-March-April-2004-issue-of-CJR.pdf |title=AIDS at 21: Media Coverage of the HIV Epidemic 1981&ndash;2002 |publisher=[[Kaiser Family Foundation]] |year=2004 |display-authors=etal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326213042/http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/AIDS-at-21-Media-Coverage-of-the-HIV-Epidemic-1981-2002-Supplement-to-the-March-April-2004-issue-of-CJR.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |url-status=dead}} Retrieved on September 9, 2007.</ref>

Numerous charities formed around White's death. The [[Indiana University Dance Marathon]], started in 1991, raises money for the Riley Hospital for Children. Between 1991 and 2022, this event helped raise over $50 million for children at Riley.<ref>[http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2013/11/iu-dance-marathon.shtml "IU Dance Marathon Raises Record $2.6 Million for Riley Hospital for Children."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112013956/http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2013/11/iu-dance-marathon.shtml/ |date=November 12, 2016 }} IU Newsroom. Indiana University. November 18, 2013. Web. Retrieved May 20, 2014.</ref> The money raised has also helped fund the Ryan White Infectious Disease Clinic at the hospital to take care of the nation's sickest children. Ryan's personal physician, with whom he was close friends, Dr. Martin Kleiman, became the Ryan White Professor of Pediatrics at [[Indiana University School of Medicine]] in Indianapolis. In a 1993 interview, prominent gay rights and AIDS activist [[Larry Kramer]] said, "I think little Ryan White probably did more to change the face of this illness and to move people than anyone. And he continues to be a presence through his mom, Jeanne White. She has an incredibly moving presence as she speaks around the world."<ref>{{cite news |last=Nimmons |first=David |date=September 1993 |title=Larry Kramer; AIDS activist; Interview |work=[[Playboy]]}}</ref>

In 1992, White's mother founded the national nonprofit Ryan White Foundation. The foundation worked to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS-related issues, with a focus on hemophiliacs like Ryan White, and on families caring for relatives with the disease.<ref name="NYT mom">{{cite news |last=Witchel |first=Alex |date=September 24, 1992 |title=At Home With Jeanne White-Ginder; A Son's AIDS, and a Legacy |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/garden/at-home-with-jeanne-white-ginder-a-son-s-aids-and-a-legacy.html |access-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215181912/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/garden/at-home-with-jeanne-white-ginder-a-son-s-aids-and-a-legacy.html |url-status=live }}. Retrieved on January 30, 2008.</ref> The foundation was active throughout the 1990s, with donations reaching $300,000 a year in 1997. Between 1997 and 2000, however, AIDS donations declined nationwide by 21%, and the Ryan White Foundation saw its donation level drop to $100,000 a year. In 2000, Ryan's mother closed the foundation, and merged its remaining assets with AIDS Action, a larger charity. She became a spokeswoman for AIDS activism and continued to arrange speaking events through the site devoted to her son, ryanwhite.com (no longer online as of October 2020).<ref name=People>{{cite news|title=Ten years after her son's death, Jeanne White shuts down his foundation but carries on the fight against AIDS|work=[[People (American magazine)|People]]|date=May 15, 2000|last1=Schindehette |first1=Susan |last2=Breu |first2=Giovanna }}</ref> White's high school, Hamilton Heights, has had a student–government-sponsored annual AIDS Walk, with proceeds going to a Ryan White Scholarship Fund.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hamilton Heights student government sponsors AIDS Walk |work=Noblesville Daily Times |access-date=May 18, 2008 |url=http://www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13735&Itemid=99999999 |archive-date=August 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805014158/http://www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13735&Itemid=99999999 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Elton John has cited White's death as the major impetus behind his decision to fight his long-standing alcohol and cocaine addiction; he went into rehab shortly afterwards and later created the [[Elton John AIDS Foundation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elton John Opens Up About How Ryan White's Funeral Served as a 'Catalyst' for Him to Get Sober |url=https://people.com/health/elton-john-on-ryan-whites-funeral-made-him-get-sober/ |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}</ref> White also became the inspiration for a handful of popular songs. Elton John donated proceeds from "[[The Last Song (Elton John song)|The Last Song]]," which appears on his album ''[[The One (Elton John album)|The One]]'', to a Ryan White fund at Riley Hospital.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Newman |first=Melinda |date=October 17, 1992 |title=Elton John Assisting AIDS Research; Donating Future Singles Sales Royalties |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref> [[Michael Jackson]] dedicated the song "[[Gone Too Soon]]" from his ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]'' album to White,<ref>{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=Richard |date=November 24, 1991 |title=Jackson's 'Dangerous' Departures; Stylistic Shifts Mar His First Album in 4 Years |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> as did 1980s pop star [[Tiffany Darwish|Tiffany]] with the song "[[Here in My Heart (Tiffany song)|Here in My Heart]]" on her ''[[New Inside]]'' album.<ref>{{cite web |last=von Metzke |first=Ron |date=July 9, 2007 |title=Ten Minutes with Tiffany |url=http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=68&id=15453 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208213208/http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=68&id=15453 |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=January 27, 2008 |work=Gay Wired}}</ref> In November 2007, [[The Children's Museum of Indianapolis]] opened an exhibit called "[[The Power of Children: Making a Difference]]," which features White's bedroom and belongings alongside similar tributes to [[Anne Frank]] and [[Ruby Bridges]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Power of Children |publisher=[[The Children's Museum of Indianapolis]] |url=http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/powerofchildren/html/index.html |access-date=April 8, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513122059/http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/powerofchildren/html/index.html |archive-date=May 13, 2008 }}</ref> After Ryan died, [[Greg Louganis]] gave his Olympic gold medal to Ryan's mother, and it is now part of the display about Ryan at the Children's Museum. In April 2015, Greg visited The Power of Children exhibit with Jeanne to see his medal in Ryan's recreated room. He said then, "The thing I’ll always remember about Ryan is his courage, strength, and sense of humor...The way Ryan lived his life continues to give me the strength and courage to do things I might not otherwise feel comfortable doing."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ryansletters.childrensmuseum.org/ryansfans#slideshow-1 | title=Ryan's Fans &#124; the Ryan White Letters Transcription Project | access-date=November 3, 2022 | archive-date=November 3, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103225732/https://ryansletters.childrensmuseum.org/ryansfans#slideshow-1 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ryan White and public perception of AIDS===
{{See also|HIV/AIDS in the United States}}
In the early 1980s, AIDS was known as [[gay-related immune deficiency]], because the disease had first been identified among primarily homosexual communities in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. At the start of the [[HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States]], the disease was thought to be a "homosexual problem" and was largely ignored by policymakers.<ref name=Band/> White's diagnosis demonstrated to many that AIDS was not exclusive to homosexual men. Lesser criticisms had been made that the disease was a punishment for drug abuse and heterosexual promiscuity, citing "an expensive price to pay for drugs and casual sex". In his advocacy for AIDS research, White, not gay himself, always rejected any criticism of homosexuality.

White was seen by some as an "innocent victim" of the AIDS epidemic.<ref name="NYT mom"/> White and his family strongly rejected the language of "innocent victim" because the phrase was often used to imply that gays with AIDS were "guilty". His mother told ''[[The New York Times]]'', {{blockquote|Ryan always said, "I'm just like everyone else with AIDS, no matter how I got it." And he would never have lived as long as he did without the gay community. The people we knew in New York made sure we knew about the latest treatments way before we would have known in Indiana. I hear mothers today say they're not gonna work with no gay community on anything. Well, if it comes to your son's life, you better start changing your heart and your attitude around.<ref name="NYT mom"/>}}

===Ryan White CARE Act===
{{Main|Ryan White CARE Act}}
[[File:Obama signs Ryan White extension.jpg|thumb|[[Barack Obama|President Barack Obama]] signs the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009.]]

In August 1990, four months after Ryan White's death, Congress enacted The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act (often known simply as the Ryan White CARE Act), in his honor. The act is the United States' largest federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS. The Ryan White CARE Act funds several different programs to improve availability of care for low-income, uninsured and underinsured victims of AIDS and their families.<ref name=HRSA>{{cite web|url=http://hab.hrsa.gov/history.htm|title=The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program|work=[[Health Resources and Services Administration]], [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|HHS]]|access-date=September 11, 2007 |archive-date=November 27, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011127143551/http://hab.hrsa.gov/history.htm}}</ref>

Ryan White programs are "payers of last resort," which subsidize treatment when no other resources are available. The Act provided some level of care for around 500,000 people a year and, in 2004, provided funds to 2,567 organizations. Ryan White programs also provide funding and technical assistance to local and state primary medical care providers, support services, healthcare providers and training programs.<ref name=HRSA/><ref name="GWU">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jessamy |url=http://www.nhpf.org/library/background-papers/BP_RyanWhite_08-22-05.pdf |title=Caring for "Ryan White": The Fundamentals of HIV/AIDS Treatment Policy |date=August 22, 2005 |publisher=[[The George Washington University]] |access-date=February 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308015234/http://www.nhpf.org/library/background-papers/BP_RyanWhite_08-22-05.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |url-status=dead}} Retrieved on September 9, 2007.</ref>

The act was reauthorized in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009. Since the [[Affordable Care Act]] of 2010 prohibited discrimination on the basis of health status and expanded access to insurance coverage, some experts debated the need for programs like the Ryan White Act.<ref name="naccho"/>  The Ryan White CARE Act expired in 2013, but individual programs continue to receive congressional funding.<ref name="naccho">{{cite web |title=NACCHO Commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Ryan White CARE Act |date=August 21, 2015 |author= Weiss, Gretchen |publisher=National Association of County and City Health Officials |url=https://www.naccho.org/blog/articles/naccho-commemorates-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-ryan-white-care-act}}</ref>

In 2024, over half of the people diagnosed with HIV in the United States (more than 550,000) were provided care and treatment from the funded programs, and 57,000 health care professionals treating people with HIV received education and training.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/ |title=Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program |publisher=Health Resources & Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |accessdate=April 9, 2024 |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101150851/https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/ |url-status=live }}</ref>