Obituary: AIDS Activist Hydeia Broadbent
HIV-positive since birth, Broadbent worked on several AIDS advocacy and awareness campaigns.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced the death of lifelong AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent, who passed away in her sleep at the age of 39. Broadbent, who was HIV-positive since birth, first came to national prominence in 1996 when she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and other national news and talk programs at the age of 11 to talk about her life living with AIDS.
Broadbent continued her fierce and outspoken advocacy throughout her youth and adulthood. She partnered with AHF on several AIDS advocacy and awareness campaigns, including riding on AHF’s award-winning 2013 Tournament of Roses parade float titled “The Global Face of AIDS” on which she represented North American individuals living with AIDS. Broadbent also appeared in AHF’s “God Loves Me” billboard campaign featuring people living with HIV and the simple but profound tagline.
Over the years, Hydeia Broadbent continued to work with AIDS Healthcare Foundation. In 2013, she attended the opening ceremony of AHF’s first Las Vegas Healthcare Centers. Being from the state of Nevada herself, Hydeia made a special appearance at the ribbon cutting. In Los Angeles in 2014, she spoke at AHF’s third community forum in a nationwide series of “AIDS is a Public Health Issue” at the Holman United Methodist Church, and during the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March, Hydeia Broadbent joined Rev. Al Sharpton, Cynthia Davis, and Gabriel Maldonado to speak on a panel at Selma University for “AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue: An Evening of Action.”
Hydeia Broadbent’s indomitable spirit and dedication will be missed.
