Ken Ramsauer

Ken Ramsauer (December 26, 1954 – May 24, 1983) was an American businessperson. He was a hardware store manager and freelance lighting designer who became the first person with AIDS to be the subject of a national network television news special when he was interviewed by Geraldo Rivera on the 20/20 television program broadcast four days before his death in 1983.^[1][2] At the time little was known of AIDS, including its causation. A candlelight vigil was held in Central Park commemorating his life and death, opened by New York Mayor Ed Koch and attracting c. 1,500 people.^[3] The vigil was later covered in the book version of How to Survive a Plague.^[4] Around 600 individuals were known to have died from AIDS at the time of Ramsauer's death, and their names were read aloud at the vigil.^[5] The vigil was called "the first large gathering acknowledging the existence of the epidemic".^[6]

At the time of his death, the public was advised by authorities to avoid contact with individuals infected with HIV.^[2] Ramsauer recalled in the 20/20 interview how he was treated by hospital staff, whom he overheard asking "I wonder how long the faggot in 208 is going to last."^[4] Some sources have stated that Ramsauer was sought out by 20/20 producers for the shocking appearance of a man near death, seeking "the most debilitated people with AIDS they could find".^[7] Ramsauer's treatment by the press was "decisively deconstructed"^[8] in Bright Eyes, a documentary by writer and filmmaker Stuart Marshall describing "the pathology of fear and manipulation surrounding the AIDS crisis".^[9]