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It was on April 8, 1992 when Arthur Ashe revealed to the world that he had AIDS. The event is documented in the book “On This Day In Tennis History” (for sale and download here https://a.co/d/0c2izIEY as you can read below.
April 8, 1992 – Arthur Ashe holds an emotional press conference in New York to announce that he has contracted AIDS from heart surgery. Ashe, who had known he had the deadly disease for three years, said he decided to disclose the illness publicly only after learning that USA Today was preparing an article on his condition. Says the 48-year-old Ashe in his prepared statement, “Beginning with my admittance to New York Hospital for brain surgery in September 1988, some of you heard that I had tested positive for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. That is indeed the case.” Ashe says that he believed the virus was transmitted through a blood transfusion after heart surgery in 1983. Ashe states that he did not previously disclose his condition publicly to protect his privacy. Says Ashe, “Just as I’m sure everyone in this room has some personal matter he or she would like to keep private, so did we. There was certainly no compelling medical or physical necessity to go public with my medical condition.”
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